


The Hunt

by Zedrobber



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Complete, Knotting, Loki tops, M/M, Size Kink, Werewolf!Thor, dub con, hella angst, werewolf knotting, werewolf/human sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-19 12:06:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 37,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3609519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zedrobber/pseuds/Zedrobber
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor was bitten by a creature he did not recognise while hunting on Midgard, and believes he is a werewolf- but no one, not even Loki, knows, and the beast is becoming stronger, the urge to kill, to mate, rising. Short fic, excuse for werewolf porn essentially, sorry!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He inhaled deeply, the crisp night air sharp and full of colour to his senses. A roosting bird to his left; leaves slowly turning to dry skeletons all around him on the soft, mossy ground. He could smell rabbit, weasel, wolf, even bear- all safe in their holes out of his reach. There was nothing in this forest that dared stand up to him, not one creature he could not snap the neck of with one powerful blow from his claws. The thought was exhilarating. He stretched extravagantly, pushing himself onto his back legs and standing fully until he towered over the forest, second only to the trees above him, oily-black in the darkness of night. His back claws pushed into the dirt, flexing and relaxing, feeling the earth shift between his toes as he inhaled again, his nose high and his teeth bared in a reflexive snarl, trying to colour the night with scents like a map. His ears swivelled constantly, straining to hear everything surrounding him- the rustle of leaves, the hoot of a lonely owl to his right, the soft scurrying of a mouse across the ground. He shook himself, his pale golden fur flashing in the moonlight like a streak of sunshine, and rolled his massive shoulders, preparing to hunt.

 _I am Thor, god of Thunder,_ he thought with some pride as he lowered his head sharply, catching the scent- bright orange- of a deer, unwisely in his path. It was the only thought he was usually able to keep when in this shape; and it had taken months of repeating just to do that much. The savage nature of his werewolf form had almost total control; like Thor in the grip of berserker rage, it filled him with the overwhelming, primal instincts of the wolf- his senses overflowing with scent and sound that his Asgardian shape couldn’t comprehend. It filled him with hunger, too; deep and often insatiable, no matter how often he hunted or how thrilling the chase. He salivated at the mere thought of the chase now, imagining tearing into the soft, hot flesh of the deer he was stalking. A deep rumble escaped his throat, his tongue snaking out to lick his jaws as he moved silently through the trees, keeping to the shadows to avoid his pale fur glinting in the moonlight. Every muscle was tense, taut like a bowstring and ready, his back claws churning the dirt as he moved despite his careful steps.

 _There_ , his human brain supplied to the information his wolf-senses gave him. Under that tree, grazing. _Stupid._ It must be a young deer to be so exposed and careless. No matter, it would die just the same. He lowered himself carefully to all fours, needing the extra burst of power and speed, and hurled himself at the young buck, who careened away into the brush.

 _Good_. With a short huff of breath from his nose, Thor pushed himself harder, zigzagging behind the deer with a single minded determination led by his stomach. The chase was short, the buck inexperienced, and soon Thor was crunching its neck between strong jaws and feeling the life bleed from it in ebbing pulses, blood staining his golden fur. He ate ravenously, as though starving, and left nothing but a small pile of splintered bones with the marrow sucked out. The scent of blood was everywhere, clinging to him, and he was almost delirious with the joy of a successful kill.

He howled, long and low, his breath steaming in the cold air. Finally, and with no reply, he stood on his feet again and shook himself, feeling somehow saddened and lonely despite the joy of a moment ago. There was time for another hunt, time to feed again before dawn crept over the Asgardian forest and he had to return home.

 

\--

 

He awoke as he usually did after a hunt-night; naked, covered in tacky, half-dried blood, and filthy from his head to his toes. He groaned heavily. All of the strength he felt in his werewolf form took a toll on his Asgardian one in the morning- like the worst hangover ever. He stood shakily, checking under his bed for half-eaten remains- that had been an interesting conversation the last time- and went to his private bathroom to run a long, painfully hot bath. He glanced in the mirror as he waited, idly tracing the red, angry scars across his shoulder that wouldn’t heal and that he was certain was the source of his transformations. It was consistent with the Midgardian mythology of werewolves, and after all, it had been Midgard where he had been bitten. A hunting trip, seeking bears in the cold regions of Midgard and hunting only with spears. They had been caught in a blizzard, had camped overnight- but in the morning, Thor’s companions were dead and he was alone. He tracked the beast to a cave, but it wasn’t a bear, and it had bitten deep into Thor’s shoulder before he could slay the creature. Huge- around eight feet tall- and hugely muscular, the creature had looked more animal than man despite walking on two legs, shaggy fur and vicious teeth and gouging, terrible claws. Thor had fought fiercely and won, finally wrenching the beast’s head from its shoulders with a roar, the tendons and muscles popping and snapping as it tore.

That night had been his first transformation, and the bloodlust had coursed through him like fire, leading him to kill almost a whole herd of deer and devour them all.

He had returned to Asgard in mourning for his friends, had taken the bodies back with him so that they could be laid to rest properly, and had done everything he was expected to in the face of such tragedy even though he was numb and tired.

But for some reason, despite his honest nature, he hadn’t told anyone about the creature he had killed or the strange transformation that had occurred. Not even Loki, who often shared his bed, knew that the gash on his shoulder was anything but a bear bite.

 

\--

 

He sank into the hot bath with a grateful sigh, the heat seeping through his aching muscles until his whole body felt relaxed and warm. He had no duties today and was planning to spend it with Loki.

If, of course, his brother didn’t decide that today was a wonderful day for locking himself in his rooms and endlessly practicing his magic.

It had been three months since the bite; he had read that werewolves only transformed once a month, but he had been changing much more frequently. He wondered if it was because Asgard didn’t subscribe to the same lunar cycles as Midgard and wished he could ask.

Reluctantly, Thor scrubbed himself clean and then climbed out of the bath, shivering as the warmth leeched from him. Clean and dressed, he went to find his brother.

 

“Finally,” Loki drawled from his bed, glancing up from his book. “I thought you’d drowned in that bath.”

“How did you-“

“You _always_ bathe in the morning now, Thor. Since that hunting trip you went on. Seems like hunting finally taught you some hygiene.”

“Yeah,” he replied, shrugging. He scrubbed a hand through his hair and flopped down onto the bed next to his brother, trying to kiss him but foiled by Loki putting the book between them. Thor grimaced and shoved at the smaller man playfully, ignoring Loki swatting him with his book.

“So what thrilling adventure did you have planned for us today?” Loki said breathlessly after they finished wrestling and Thor won a kiss finally.

“I thought we could go out for a ride and a swim!”

“Riveting,” Loki sighed, already placing his bookmark and getting up. Thor followed with a grin.

 

**This is partly for prettypearlnecklace- thank you for all your support and comments!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

 

The day was warm and sunny, the brothers riding in companionable silence for once. The way was easy, following a well-used trail through the forest, the sunlight dappling through the high canopy and falling in golden streaks onto the floor around them.

Beside the calm, clear river, they dismounted and let the horses wander to graze.

“Last one in’s a rotting bilgesnipe,” Thor hollered as he sprinted to the water, tearing his clothes off.

“You are insufferable.”

Thor inevitably won, considering the unfair advantage, and was already swimming lazily by the time Loki entered the water slightly more gracefully.

“Your shoulder still looks awful.”

“I know.”

Thor lowered himself further into the river, submerging the ugly scar and hissing at a spike of pain as the freezing water hit the still too-hot flesh.

“You should let me have a look at it, you know,” Loki said, swimming around Thor.

“It’s fine, Loki. It will heal.”

“If you say so.” He shrugged and turned himself into an otter, circling his brother. Thor chuckled, splashing at Loki. “That’s very good. You’re learning so fast!”

“It’s because,” Loki said as he turned himself back into Loki, “I actually bother to read occasionally.”

“I read,” Thor protested half-heartedly.

“You only read books with pictures in,” Loki teased, turning into a flashing silver fish and darting out of Thor’s reach. Thor followed anyway, splashing mightily in his efforts to catch his brother and laughing as he half swam, half ran through the water.

 

Later, they fucked lazily in the sun on the banks, Thor thrusting into Loki with deep, slow strokes as Loki arched luxuriously under him in the warm, sweet-scented grass. Loki only ever allowed it to be gentle when they were away from everyone else, outside like this; normally he wanted teeth and nails and vicious words and Thor was only too happy to oblige, but alone, with the sun warm on his skin and the smell of the autumn air around him, Loki was needy and wanting and soft, his arms around Thor’s neck and his cock hard against Thor’s stomach, trapped between their still damp bodies. Thor found it utterly captivating to see this side of Loki, the side no one else ever got to witness.

Finally Thor came deep inside his brother, wrapping one hand around Loki’s cock and giving two, three firm strokes- that was all it took, Loki following him with a wordless, keening cry, his nails digging reflexively into Thor’s shoulders.

Ever the romantic, Loki sighed as Thor rolled off and muttered; “now I need to wash again.”

“You need to work on your pillow talk,” Thor grunted, his head buried in the grass, but Loki had already shifted back to an otter and slid into the water, his sleek head the only visible part of him.

 

The ride back was slow and uneventful, except for near the end as the sun sank towards the horizon and Thor’s horse began to whinny uncertainly, pawing at the ground as Thor tried to lead him home.

 _It’s the beast,_ Thor thought suddenly. _They can smell it, smell it on me. We must get home._ He sped up, ignoring Loki’s furrowed brow, and they arrived back at the palace with minutes to spare.  Thor made his excuses, almost running from Loki in his haste to be alone.

 

 _Not now, not now, please,_ he thought over and over as he took the long loop around, through the palace and out again into the gardens, undressing hastily on the way and placing his clothes neatly under a stone bench, out of sight of casual observers. The sun was almost gone now, the sky burning in orange and red and pink, bathing the ordered, neat gardens into fields of blood and gold. Thor loped on, out of the path of any of the palace staff and off into the forest, his gait lengthening, his shoulders hunching; and then, with a moment of terrible, blinding pain, his bones cracked and stretched, his skull elongating and the joints of each of his fingers snapping, stretching, reforming. He dropped to all fours, his roar of pain ending on a long, guttural howl as his higher consciousness was taken over by the beast and all that remained was _I am Thor, God of Thunder,_ and the need to hunt, stronger than ever before.

He spent the night prowling, hunting; each kill devoured within minutes until his beautiful golden fur was stained red around his jaws, his massively powerful arms splattered with crimson to the elbows. And still it wasn’t enough. With each kill came momentary respite, a few seconds of pure, satisfied bliss until the hunger began to gnaw at him again like a rat in his belly.

 

With the dawn fast approaching and his hunger still insatiable, Thor finally rested, crouching under a large oak tree and sniffing the air carefully. There was a new scent; something faint and almost undetectable in the still night air, tantalising and enticing beyond any feast he had consumed so far. His lips curled back in a snarl involuntarily, his ears straining to find a sound to match the smell that so tormented him. It stirred something deep inside the wolf, something primal and terrible and much more than mere hunger. _Take,_ the wolf-brain gave him. _Claim._

 _Claim what?_ he tried to wonder, but the beat of his blood was hard and loud in his ears, the tension in his muscles almost unbearable as he forced himself to be still and quiet. Somewhere in his brain he was aware that he was hard, his cock huge and vicious looking in this form, but it wasn’t important, not like that scent.

The wolf in him grew impatient, itching to go, to hunt for this new smell that somehow _wasn’t_ new; was maddeningly familiar, in fact, almost like Thor’s own smell but less earthy, less like blood and dirt and sweat and more like the sky and the wind through the trees. It was intoxicating, and unable to hold back any longer, Thor allowed himself to slip back into the beast, lowering his huge head and stalking through the forest on silent claws, unaware that his path was taking him back towards people rather than deeper into the trees, something he had managed to avoid for three months with careful planning and sheer force of will.

Back towards people, and the palace, and to his brother.


	3. Chapter 3

It was sheer luck that he passed  no-one on the way to the palace; the shadows shielding him from the torches as he skulked onwards. His claws made clacking noises on the smooth marble tiles in the palace as he entered, momentarily startling him and making him growl softly. The scent was stronger here; more enticing than ever and leading him on blindly through the halls and corridors of his home with his muzzle up and his hears pricked forward. The blood had dried almost black on his face, sticky and clumped and making him look terrifying beyond belief, his eyes startlingly blue beneath the mask of blood. Thor had to duck beneath arches, his huge frame too massive to fit otherwise- he stood over eight feet tall at full height. He followed the smell up some stairs, narrow and winding and difficult to navigate with his claws, and then through a long corridor. _I know this route._

His cock was painfully hard now, aching and huge, curved against his stomach, the knot at the base of his cock large and swollen. Thor was aware of this and mildly embarrassed at the beast’s evident arousal. Hunting often seemed to have this effect, and many nights Thor had returned to his bed after transforming back to his own form still hard and wanting, spilling his seed over his own hand after mere moments. He assumed it was the adrenaline, the thrill of the chase exciting the wolf in him.

 _Like now,_ he reasoned, turning a corner and finding the scent even more intoxicating again, guiding him onwards. _This is the best hunt I’ve had, the best scent I’ve followed._

A door. Somehow familiar, huge and imposing even for the beast, all golden knot work and intricate carvings. The scent was here, all around the door, heavy and tantalising. Thor began to salivate, his huge teeth bared, his cock slick and heavy between his legs. _Here. Hunt ends here. Hunt claim kill take-_

Thor showed the beast how to open the door, his claws scraping against the metalwork.

 

He barely had time to understand at last that this was _Loki’s_ room before the beast was dropping to all fours, shoulders hunched and eyes flashing in the semi darkness of the room. Loki was asleep, his face turned from Thor and the covers pushed away from him. He was pale and beautiful in the light of the single torch still burning, his dark hair messy and his throat exposed.

A shudder ran through Thor’s body, the realisation that he had been looking for this, for his brother all along. _To kill?_

 _Claim,_ the beast supplied, crouched beside Loki’s bed. Gods, but the _smell_ of him! So overwhelming he felt he was drowning in it- like salt and spice and the curling breeze through grass.  Loki had never smelled so good, so intense. Thor drank it in, his body hulking and huge above Loki’s sleeping form.

Now Thor’s own arousal mingled with the beasts; Loki’s sheer beauty always had him helplessly, hopelessly hard within minutes, and tonight was no exception. Loki still smelled like the river, clean and warm, and it was with a sudden, lurching jolt that Thor finally understood what _claim_ meant. The wolf wanted Loki for a mate, wanted him like Thor wanted him.

 _You’ve known all along,_ Thor accused himself wearily. He rose, towering above his brother in the shadowy torchlight, and growled softly. The thought of claiming Loki in this form was powerfully arousing; pinning him down, completely overpowering him, rutting into him viciously. He had thought of it often in the dull light of morning, with his hand wrapped around his cock.

Loki awoke blearily at the noise, blinking up in confusion at the huge beast above him, and Thor pounced, tearing off Loki’s covers and straddling his lean, naked body, pinning both of his brother’s wrists above his head with one massive clawed hand. The wolf urged him on, screaming in his mind to _take, take_ , but Thor fought back, slowing himself and realising he couldn’t speak in this body. Loki tried to scream and Thor covered his mouth, snarling and exposing his sharp teeth in warning until his brother quieted, squirming and wriggling underneath him. The friction was making Thor harder, and Loki glanced at Thor’s monstrous cock in terror, his eyes wide and sliding down to the knot, before looking back up to his face, questioning and panicked.

His blood singing with the need to just fuck him, take him now even if his brother didn’t want him to, Thor resisted, desperately trying to convey through his eyes that it was him- _It’s me Loki, brother- it’s Thor-_ and he watched in fascination and hope as Loki’s eyes narrowed, his gaze travelling from Thor’s eyes down to his muzzle, lingering on those sharp teeth before returning to look Thor full in the face.  Thor removed the claw from Loki’s mouth carefully, and Loki licked his lips, taking in a deep, shaky breath.

“Thor?”

Thor nodded- or tried to, his head heavy and strange in this form, and Loki surprised him by laughing.

“I see you’ve perfected shape shifting too then? Or did you just get yourself bitten by a stupid _werewolf_? Typical- I spend years working on my magic and you just blunder around getting bitten by things, you oaf.”

Thor snarled savagely, reminding Loki just who was in control here, and pushed himself against his brother, his cock sliding over Loki’s stomach. Loki hissed between his teeth, tugging his wrists until Thor released them. His hips bucked against Thor’s, his cock beginning to stir as he contemplated his huge brother.

“You planning to knot me, Thor?” he asked softly, a smirk creeping over his face. “You get turned into a huge wolf and the only thing you can do about it is come crawling to me to fuck? You’re so _predictable_.”

Thor opened his jaws very carefully, and placed them around Loki’s throat, digging the points of his teeth into the soft flesh. _Tear, rend, take-_ the wolf screamed, but Thor resisted. Loki arched his neck back, his eyes dark and unreadable. “Or were you planning to rip my throat out instead?” His voice was soft, almost amused, and he pushed his hips up again, his cock now fully hard and sliding against Thor’s.

 _He wants this?_ Thor was less surprised than he _should_ have been; after all, it wasn’t like Loki had ever asked him to fuck him like a wolf before. But here he was, his throat exposed, his cock hard against Thor and his breaths quick and shallow. He _smelled_ aroused too; his scent had become deeper, richer, edged with musk and it was driving the beast wild with want, his blood hammering in his ears and his heart racing as he crouched over his little brother, his massive body almost covering Loki’s.

 

There was a moment where he could still have stopped himself, where he could have pulled back and left.

 

It passed unheeded, and with a guttural growl, Thor grabbed at Loki, releasing his throat and turning him easily, his brother small and light in his powerful arms. Belly pressed to the bed now, Loki wriggled and writhed beneath the wolf, squirming into a more comfortable position with the beast’s cock hard against his ass and his own cock rutting against the mattress.

“Do it, then, if you can remember how,” he spat with a wicked grin, turning his head to look sideways up at Thor. “Break your little brother, one way or the other.” Thor raked his claws down Loki’s back hard enough to leave thin red lines in his wake, Loki shuddering under him. The scent of blood only made him more desperate, his blood singing. He bent his head to lick at it, the taste exploding on his tongue like the most exquisite meal he had ever eaten. He could almost _taste_ the magic that ran through Loki’s veins, a heady, overwhelming power to it that drove him past the point of reason and straight into feral rage. Distantly he heard Loki saying something, saw him leaning backwards with a bottle in his hand and pouring liquid that smelled of spice and incense onto Thor’s cock, awkwardly reaching behind himself to rub it in and then pushing fingers into his own entrance.

It meant little to the beast, and even Thor was too far gone to pay much attention; every sensation in his body focused intently on his own pleasure as he gripped Loki’s hips painfully tight, his claws tearing the pale, delicate skin as he pulled him up onto all fours and slammed into his little brother suddenly and with agonising savagery, impaling Loki on his cock and pushing hard, forcing the huge knot inside while his brother whimpered and scrabbled at the sheets, biting back a scream. The scent of blood was everywhere, mixing with sweat and arousal and still a hint of fear, and Thor pounded into him again and again, feeling only that hot, tight slickness around his cock and caring little for anything else. He bit down on the nape of Loki’s neck, growling constantly; a low, primal rumble that Loki more felt than heard, claiming him as his mate in all but words as Loki struggled to breathe and relax, finally managing to calm enough for his noises to stop being muffled screams and start being ragged moans, his hands balled into fists and his hips pushing back to meet Thor’s, his cock finding blissful friction against the sheets as he was fucked into the mattress.

It was brutal; the wolf biting and clawing and pinning him to the bed so that he could barely breathe properly, his whole world narrowing to the giant shaggy beast on him, inside him, invading his body in every way. It was perfect, more than he could have ever dreamed of, Thor taking him and using him in this way, making him feel helpless and so _full,_ his cock driving in and out of him, the knot stretching him.

 

Thor was truly lost now; slamming his hips into Loki again and again, panting, his tongue lolling from his mouth obscenely and his teeth digging dangerously into his little brother’s neck, blood welling where he punctured the skin. The wolf’s blood sang through him, each brutal thrust driving him closer to the edge until he could hold back no longer, spilling his seed deep inside Loki’s body in a shuddering rush and releasing his hold on his brother’s neck to let out a low, keening howl that was almost speech as he came.

The feeling of Thor’s hot seed filling him pushed Loki over too, screaming his release into the pillow and spilling over the bed and his own stomach as Thor collapsed onto him, his weight huge and reassuring, his cock still locked deep inside Loki by the knot.

 

Finally, Thor _could_ move, but he chose not to, instead falling asleep on Loki’s back.

“Mmfff. Mmmmff! GET OFF!”

The wolf rolled over, pulling out of Loki and leaving him feeling somehow empty and cold. The smaller man curled into the huge beast’s side, tucking his hands into the warm golden fur as Thor rumbled softly in his chest.

 _That’s what I wanted all along,_ Thor thought sleepily, the lines between him and the beast blurring in his tiredness. _To claim him in this form too, make him mine properly so the wolf recognised him too._ Lazily, he leaned over and licked at the last streaks of drying blood on Loki’s back and shoulder, the taste familiar now, just like Loki’s scent, and comforting. He fell asleep with the spark of it still on his tongue.

 

**Yay knotting? Anyway sorry for the delay- was so sleepy last  night I could barely see, never mind write!**


	4. Chapter 4

 

Thor awoke painfully, groaning deeply and squinting against the light. He ached everywhere, more than usual after a transformation. Blinking heavily, he turned over and stared at the blood and mud stained sheets in confusion until he remembered he wasn’t in his own bed. _What did I do? I could have killed him._ Memories from last night flashed through his mind, making him flush deeply and rub his face with one blood-streaked hand. _Gods._ Loki was gone, thankfully, but the memory of his little brother stretched wide around his huge cock, his muscles tense and straining as he fought to take it all in, was too much, and Thor hurried out of bed to his bath, every muscle throbbing at the sudden movement.

It was only when he was neck deep in the hot water and leaning his head against the edge that he had a panicked, terrifying thought.

_I’m sure my fangs pricked him. Is that enough to … to do to him what happened to me?_

He wasn’t sure- the beast that had attacked him had bitten him deep to the bone, the wound still angry and painful. But if he had- if he had turned his little brother into a creature like him-

 _You’d love that,_ his brain thought traitorously. _You could hunt together, fuck together in the woods- you’d be together forever._

“No,” he said, aloud to silence his mind. “I would not.”

“Would not what, brother?” Loki came sauntering in, looking fresh and relaxed. He carried books under one arm.

“Nothing,” Thor said cagily, trying to determine whether the marks on Loki’s neck looked red.

“I’m in the bath, Loki.”

“Yes,” Loki said, squinting at him. “I can see that, Thor. Haven’t gone blind yet.”

“No, I mean- I’m busy. Can’t they-“ he nodded towards the books- “wait?”

“No.” Loki sat down on a narrow bench at the edge of the room and put down the pile of books with a heavy leather _thump._ “We have research to do.”

Thor groaned as Loki picked up the first.

“By the way,” he added almost casually, “I went to Heimdall this morning.”

“Why?”

“It occurred to me that he had been letting a giant wolf creature stalk around Asgard without telling anyone. The Allfather, for example. I wondered if you’d bribed him, so I went to have a little chat.”

“I- did not bribe anyone.” Truthfully, it hadn’t even occurred to Thor that Heimdall would see- a stupid error on his part, and not one befitting his intelligence. He should have been more careful. _I will not make one like that again._

“I _know_ you didn’t, idiot. I talked to him. Do try to keep up. He told me that you had kept to the forests, had stalked nothing more dangerous to the realm than deer and a few rabbits. You are so predictable.”

“So- he knew it was me?”

“That _is_ his job, Thor, remember?  He recognised you and saw that you were not a threat to Asgard, so used his judgment based on your frightfully good behaviour. He said that if you became uncontrollable, he would have no choice but to tell your father. You are _dull._ All that power and you hunt bunnies? If _I_ had that, I’d have so much more fun-“

“Well, you _don’t._ So why don’t you take your research and go elsewhere, brother? I tire of your – your humour.”

“Well, someone got up on the wrong side of the den today. Fine. I’ll just be off searching how to cure you.”

“I-“ Thor flushed deeply.

Loki smirked, tilting his head innocently. “Yes?”

“I don’t-“

“You don’t _want_ to be cured? Why Thor, how you surprise me.” His tone definitely did not indicate surprise. Thor grunted in frustration.

“It- I cannot explain it, brother. It feels-“ Thor gestured expansively. “Exhilarating. Like truly living. I’m learning to harness it, to remain _me_ inside more and more. “

“Make me one.”

“No.” _I already might have._

“I want to. I want to feel it, Thor- I want to feel how it is to be powerful like that. You have your strength already, you wield Mjolnir and its power alongside your own, and the force of the storm runs through your veins. I have nothing but the magic I have learned, and it has taken many years to even master _that._ ”

“You are stronger than any human,” Thor reminded him gently. “Stronger by far than many creatures, many people we have fought.” This was a familiar conversation.

“But I’m not stronger than you.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.” Loki shook his head, standing. “I just want to be your equal, brother.”

“You already are,” Thor said to his retreating back. The water was getting cold now, and so he got out, feeling more tired than before.

 

Later, dry and dressed, he went searching for Loki again, finding him in the vast, ornate library; Loki was in his usual nook, legs tucked under him and nose firmly in a leather-bound volume. It was one that Thor had already read, titled “Monstrous transformations and the lore surrounding them.”

“I’ve tried that, Loki,” he said as he sat down with familiar ease in his usual seat next to his brother.

“You mean you willingly read a book with _minimal illustrations?”_

Thor frowned and Loki shrugged, quieting. “Alright- I assumed you’d have read it, but I was looking for something specific.” He gestured to the pinprick wounds on his throat. “I wanted to know if they were enough to- you know. One of the other books I found,” he pointed to the pile next to him, “Said that to become one of them you had to be bitten. I was attempting to find out how ‘bitten’ counted as actually bitten.”

“And?”

“Apparently not. Relieved?” Loki looked like he was seething under the surface, his face too calm and measured for Thor to trust.

“Loki-“

“Don’t bother, Thor. I know you won’t turn me.”

“You do?”

Loki nodded, slamming the book closed with a dusty smack and unfolding his legs. “Yes. But I also know you won’t be able to stop yourself fucking me- so I’ll just have to goad you into biting me properly.” He smiled and slid out of his nook, leaving Thor alone in the library.

 

\--

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

To his relief, Thor didn’t transform again for the next week. He avoided Loki as much as possible, spending his time training aggressively in the yards until he was sheened with sweat and exhausted enough to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow each night. It was mindless, physical exertion, and it was exactly what he needed right now to calm his mind and refocus his energy.

 

 _I should make a chart or something,_ he thought one night as he lay in bed, unchanged for the fourth night in a row. _Try to figure out the pattern._ _Loki would know how._ That was as far as he got before he was asleep though, and the idea had gone the next morning.

It was after a week and two days that he felt the familiar itching in his skin as dusk approached, felt that restless hunger gnawing at his stomach. He set off across the gardens as the sun began to descend, determined to put as much distance between him and Loki- and anyone else- as possible before he turned.

He had managed a few miles easily before it was time; his bones snapping and reforming with pain that seemed even the worse for having been absent a few days. Thor passed out mercifully in the middle of the transformation, waking in the dirt under a tangled shrub a few minutes later with the agony subsided and the wolf back in his mind. _Hunt._

It seemed less urgent this time, normal hunger rather than the insatiable lust of the last hunt, and Thor was relieved, urging his body into the forest in long, loping strides, his golden fur pale in the moonlight under the dappled leaves.

He found a young deer, barely off its mother, and tore it apart with his huge arms, devouring it within moments before stalking another, older buck, the chase through the brush thrilling and fast. Soon though, it too was in his stomach, blood smearing his muzzle and darkening his chest fur. He felt warm again, contented and lazy, and dropped his pace to lope through the forest slowly, taking the opportunity to take in the fresh scents of the night air and hear the crunch of the leaves under his claws. He felt so powerful like this, at one with the world outside in a way he could never be usually. He enjoyed feeling the smaller animal cower from him, enjoyed knowing that he was the top predator in the forest and deserving of respect.

He was crouched under a large, leafy beech tree, idly watching a stupid young hare grazing across the clearing from him, when the hair on his hackles rose, an involuntary snarl on his lips as his nostrils flared.

 _That scent again._ The beast in him knew it only as _mate claim hunt_ but Thor despaired to recognise it as Loki, his brother’s smell now as ingrained in him as his own was. He rose to his feet, raising his muzzle to the air hungrily. _But why is it so strong?_

There- he could tell where the scent was coming from, almost like an invisible golden trail leading him through the trees towards Loki’s enticing scent. Without a second thought, he was stalking through the forest with his head low and his eyes focused and narrow, his cock heavy and hard against his stomach almost instantly, the beast hungry to claim his mate again.

 _Loki, you stupid boy,_ Thor managed to think desperately through the haze of arousal and the singing of the blood through his veins. _You’re going to get yourself killed._

Still he was helpless against the pulse in his head and the lust of the beast, following the scent trail to find Loki in a clearing, naked and very clearly waiting for him. He was sprawled on his stomach on his cloak, his hair shining silver in the moonlight and his eyes dark and unreadable as he looked towards Thor. There was a bottle of oil beside him, heavily scented; Thor could smell it underneath the heady smell of his brother, and could smell it on him too. _He’s prepared himself already_.

The thought made _Thor_ as aroused as the wolf was, his cock almost painfully hard now, the overwhelming desire to mate clouding all judgement as he advanced on his little brother. He could smell the fear on him as well as his desire; could see the slight tremor running through Loki’s body even as he spread his legs for the beast.

Thor snarled, growling deep in his chest. His tongue snaked out, licking at his muzzle in anticipation as he lowered himself to all fours, stalking Loki like a deer caught in his stare. His brother- _mate-_ raised himself for the wolf, pushing to his knees and digging his hands into the soft soil to anchor him as Thor covered him with his huge body, Loki seeming small and fragile underneath him despite the lean muscles and wiry strength of his brother.

Clamping his teeth onto the nape of Loki’s neck to hold him down, Thor willed himself to not bite down, to not break the skin, despite the pulse of his brother’s blood hot through his skin underneath him calling him on. His claws dug into the ground beside Loki’s shoulders, churning the soil as with one, massively powerful thrust, he pushed his way into his little brother again, impaling Loki on his huge cock in one stroke, the knot on Thor’s cock stretching his entrance as he pushed all the way in. This time, Loki was prepared; a low, keening moan was Thor’s reward as he pulled out, only to slam back into his brother again and again, his body pinning Loki down effectively underneath him as he took him viciously, Loki swearing and howling at the savage pace even as he bucked his hips back to meet Thor’s.

The beast was wild; his blood pounding through his ears, his vision clouded red around the edges, every intake of breath overwhelming with the heady scent of Loki’s arousal and his own musky smell. He watched Loki’s hands ball into fists in the soft earth, his head drop as much as Thor’s teeth on his neck would allow, and heard his moans start to change pitch, desperate and guttural, driving the beast even harder, pounding into his little brother with even more vicious intensity as he felt his own release coming. It was all Thor could do to hold back his teeth as he came, feeling them dig into Loki’s skin slightly despite his best efforts, the familiar taste of that magical blood sparking on his tongue as he slammed in one last time, spilling deep inside Loki and trapping it there with the knot still buried in his brother. Loki reached between his legs and wrapped slender fingers around his own cock, taking only moments to spill his own seed on the earth under them and whining at the sensation of Thor’s knot still inside him. Thor could feel Loki’s limbs trembling underneath him as he collapsed onto the ground with Thor still on him, his heavy weight pressing his brother into the dirt. Finally he was able to free himself, pulling himself out as carefully as he could.

 

Loki looked up at him, his expression soft and sated, and chuckled a soft “good dog” that made Thor growl and lope off into the forest with as much of a disgusted look as he was able in this form. The beast could still taste Loki’s blood, but Thor knew it hadn’t been enough to make Loki like him. _I managed to control myself,_ he thought with some relief as he headed off, determined to put as much distance between him and Loki as possible. _He baited me._

It wasn’t surprising, but it did mean that Thor was going to have to be even more careful than before to ensure Loki didn’t manage to goad him into turning him.

 _You want him to,_ his traitorous mind whispered. _You want to make him like you._

Thor didn’t reply, knowing it was at least partially true.

 

 

**apologies for the delay in this chapter, folks- some real life stress at work has made me unable to concentrate. Thanks for continuing to read!**


	6. Chapter 6

 

Thor managed to avoid Loki for the next few nights of his transformation, and it was with relief that he did not turn on the fourth night. He stretched in bed, revelling in the knowledge that he would have a good night’s sleep for once.

“Brother.”

“For all the Gods, Loki, will you please knock!” Thor jerked, almost falling out of bed. Loki was stood in his doorway, leaning nonchalantly on the frame.

“I thought you would smell me, you creepy wolf boy.”

“I can’t do that unless I’m in the beast’s body,” Thor reminded him wearily. “As you know.”

Loki shrugged and moved closer, his face half-hidden in the low lamplight. “You’ve been avoiding me.”

“You’ve been trying to bait me.”

“Of course I have, you idiot. How else am I supposed to get what  I want?”

“You’re _not_. I’m not turning you.”

“You will, in the end. You never can resist me.”

“You have no idea what you’re asking, Loki- it’s not something I wanted, or asked for- it was forced on me and I have to live with it.”

Loki huffed out a short laugh. “Don’t you _dare_ try to deny that you love it, Thor. Don’t you look me in the eye and tell me you hate the power, the hunt and the kill. You’re  a hunter in your own form. There’s no way you wouldn’t love being so much more powerful. Otherwise, you’d have found a cure by now.” He looked insufferably smug, his eyes flashing in the half light. He leaned in further, his lips brushing Thor’s ear, his breath warm on his brother’s cheek. _Now_ Thor could smell him, faint and muddy compared to the brilliant bloom of scent the wolf knew, but intoxicating nonetheless.

“I’ll be waiting for you next time,” he whispered, and Thor could feel the curl of his lips against his ear, could feel the smirk he knew was there. “How is your self-control?”

Before Thor could manage to reply, Loki turned to go, and left him alone with his thoughts.

He didn’t sleep.

\--

 

The next night that he felt the itch in his bones, he decided to be prepared. He set off mid evening with a full roast leg of goat on a string, leaving himself a scent trail from the palace to a place miles deeper into the woods than usual, where he hoped no people would stray. He left the leg in a secluded spot under a shrub, and managed to get back in time to eat with his friends, make an appearance to his mother and the All-father, and get out of his clothes before the transformation.

All went well, the wolf following the trail to find the roast leg waiting for it. It was delicious; more so than when Thor was in his usual form, but it wasn’t enough, the beast yearning for the hot rush of blood in its mouth. He set off, head low as he explored the new scents and sights of this unexplored area of forest, taking in deep lungfuls of air as his claws crunched through the dead leaves littering the floor.

 _Loki won’t come this far out,_ he thought smugly, glancing up to the sky through the branches above him. _He’ll be where I used to hunt._

He caught the scent of deer before too long, automatically hunching down into the shadows, hiding his golden fur from the moonlight that would turn him silver and flash like a beacon. The hunt was brief, the deer young and inexperienced; but it was hot and delicious and Thor relished the crunching of its delicate bones under his teeth as he swallowed huge mouthfuls of fresh meat.

Once that was gone, he sniffed about for his next meal, hoping for a large buck or two to satiate his hunger. The beast was hungry tonight, the blood singing through him.

He lifted his muzzle again in the direction he had just been sniffing.

_It can’t be. Not Loki again._

He growled deep in his chest, his fur bristling in fury. _I’m going to kill him._ The beast agreed with him, desperate to taste the magical blood again, feel it spark on its tongue.

 _No. I’m not rising to it,_ Thor thought stubbornly, turning away from the tantalising smell. It seemed somehow stronger than usual, enhanced in a way that was not mere closeness, almost visible as it threaded towards him through the trees. The wolf could almost see its colour, a vibrant, spring green tinted with gold, full of the promise of magic and edged with a deep, sensual note that made the beast’s cock stir, half hard before Thor even fully realised. It was inexorable in its call, a silent siren’s song that the beast could no more ignore than it could ignore prey. Even Thor was drawn in, that familiar scent so alluring tonight that there was no avoiding it. It had to be magical, had to be a spell Loki was weaving on himself, but there was nothing the beast or Thor could do to stop themselves following the trail through the forest, Thor’s cock hard against his stomach as he prowled towards his little brother.

 

Loki was in a clearing, a magical golden light suffusing the ground and him. He lay naked on a pile of furs, pale and golden in the warm light, his own cock hard already and the bottle of oil beside him, opened.

“I thought you were never coming,” he said softly, his mouth curled into a smug smile. “I’ve been here for _ages._ ”

Thor snarled, baring his teeth. The scent was everywhere here, coating every inch of the clearing and driving the beast mad. Thor could hear its constant _claim mate hunt kill_ like a mantra in his mind, could feel the beast’s muscles trembling as Thor fought for control against the instinct to tear into Loki and drive his cock deep inside his little brother’s willing body. He couldn’t last long, could feel the strain beginning to take hold of his control over the wolf, but still he held it back.

“Oh, come now brother, you know you can’t resist me,” Loki purred, leaning back against the furs. “I’ve been waiting so long, I almost started without you.”

His fingers were slick with the oil. _He’s prepared himself again, knowing I would come,_ Thor thought with irritation.

Loki turned onto his stomach and raised his hips invitingly, and that was it for Thor; the beast took full control, lunging at Loki and digging claws painfully into his brother’s shoulders as he impaled him on his monstrous cock in one long, powerful stroke. Loki screamed, half crying and half laughing in triumph as Thor took him savagely, the smell of him and the feel of him tight around his cock driving him completely wild, in sync with the wolf for long, exhilarating minutes as he pounded again and again into Loki’s body, filling him to the knot and pulling back almost fully before driving himself back into that tight heat relentlessly. Loki howled and clawed at the ground, snaking one hand between his legs to wrap around his own cock as his brother fucked him mercilessly.

Thor was one with the beast, their minds and purposes connected fully for the first time since he was bitten, both intent on nothing more than _claim take mate_ repeated again and again. Thor didn’t notice his teeth sinking into the soft flesh at the junction of Loki’s neck and shoulder until it was too late, tasting the blood on his tongue before he was fully aware of the damage and then feeling it flood his mouth. He was too far gone to even panic; instead tasting his little brother’s magical blood greedily, lapping at it as he fucked Loki into the ground, his teeth still buried in Loki’s neck as he came painfully hard, shuddering his release deep into his brother, the knot connecting them for long moments after Loki himself had found his climax and collapsed onto the ground.

Finally Thor could pull away, his muzzle covered in Loki’s blood and the beast retreated enough for Thor to be horrified at his actions. Loki lay face down, breathing hard, his shoulder a mess of bloody bite wounds and scratches, and for a moment Thor thought he was crying; his shoulders heaved and shuddered, his breathing uneven. Then he realised.

Loki was laughing.


	7. Chapter 7

Thor hesitated, torn between running and staying, for what seemed like an age. It would be simpler to go; to hide in the forest until this night was over and deal with the fallout tomorrow- but that was cowardice, and Thor had never been accused of that. He couldn’t start now, not with his _brother_ , no matter what he had done.

So instead, with a low growl, he bent to pick up Loki awkwardly, being careful not to scratch him further. Loki was still laughing, but he stopped long enough to stare in confusion at Thor as the huge beast began to carry him through the trees. “What are you doing?”

Thor growled and ignored him, lowering his head to duck under the branches that whipped at his face and arms.

“Stop it- Thor, put me _down_ ,” Loki said, trying to squirm free of Thor’s grasp. Thor just held on tighter, baring his teeth at Loki in warning. They reached the palace without further incident, and Thor managed to get them both to his chambers without being seen, lowering Loki to the bed and then crouching beside him in silence, his eyes glowing in the firelight.

Loki stared at him in the darkness, his eyes wide. The blood on his shoulders looked black in the gloom, already tacky and drying. Thor could smell it, overpowering and tempting. He could smell Loki’s fear, his own seed, the sweat on Loki’s skin. It took all of Thor’s will to keep the beast at bay.

“Why have you brought me here?” Loki asked, frowning. “I don’t need to be _babied_ by some huge stinking beast. I’m fine.”

Thor said nothing, anger starting to seep through him now that the initial afterglow of orgasm and the adrenaline of getting in unseen had waned. _How dare you make me do this,_ he thought, followed instantly by _No, it is my fault. I should have been more vigilant, I knew how much you wanted this._

Loki sighed loudly, leaning back on the bed. “Fine. Be a good dog and be quiet. I need beauty sleep. I think I prefer you as a wolf, brother. Your conversation is vastly improved.”

Thor snarled.

“Your breath, however-“ Loki added with a wrinkled nose. Thor allowed the jibe and climbed onto the bed beside Loki, ignoring his muffled protests. _You’re going nowhere until I know if you’re going to turn._

He hadn’t even realised he’d started to lick lazily at the drying blood on Loki’s shoulder until his brother muttered, “That is disgusting,” in a weary, resigned voice.  Even old blood had a little of the spark the beast craved, the magic fizzing on his tongue as he cleaned the wounds thoroughly. Loki protested and wriggled for a long time before giving in to exhaustion and falling asleep. Thor followed soon after, the beast calmer and placid after the orgasm and Loki’s blood.

 

-

 

Thor awoke to an empty bed, his head pounding and his muscles screaming. Groggily he got up, staggering a little, and looked around for Loki for a long moment before he wiped his mouth and realised he had dried blood on his hand when he pulled it back. He was blank for a long moment before the memory of the night before hit him all at once, closely followed by a wash of shame and guilt as he recalled what he had done. _Loki, where are you-_ he thought, squinting blearily around the room. Then he knew. _Where do I always go? The bath._

The room was steamy and warm when Thor entered, Loki already soaking in the hot water up to his neck. Thor slipped in beside him silently, not looking at his brother and unsure how to start the conversation.

 

Finally, Loki did it for him. “Good morning, brother.”

“Loki.”

“I can tell you’re just _dying_ to start with the apologies and the _brother whatever I have done,_ but can you just please not? I’m trying to bathe. You won’t believe how _filthy_ I was.”

“I’m truly sorry. We can fix this- we can find a healer, perhaps-“

“Thor, you are _unspeakably_ dull.” Loki groaned, getting to his feet. Thor winced as he saw the ugly red wounds on Loki’s neck and shoulder as his little brother passed him, grabbing a towel on the way and leaving Thor alone in the bath as it began to cool. He sat in the water until it was almost cold, thinking and worrying.

 

He didn’t manage to see Loki all day, the trickster somehow managing to avoid him deftly at all turns; never in the same room as Thor, never where the servants said he was- even Frigga had no idea where he’d gone, and she was usually uncanny in her knowledge of their whereabouts.

Finally, frustrated and aware that time was slipping from him as the sun began to move towards the horizon, Thor gave up his search and went to prepare for his transformation. _Loki will have to fend for himself if he is truly turned. Perhaps we will be fortunate._

 

Thor managed to put a good distance between himself and the palace before he transformed, despite the late start and his preoccupation. The beast was ravenous tonight; hunting and killing two full grown bucks before an hour had passed, and still wanting more. Thor kept trying to think about Loki, but the beast was needier tonight and kept taking control to kill.

By half way through the night, Thor had hunted two bucks, two hares, three rabbits, and an unwary lynx, and was still prowling for more, his stomach seemingly bottomless tonight.

 

Then the howl came, a long, lonely sound that ripped right through Thor and tapped into the beast’s consciousness at the same time. The hair on his hackles raised, his ears flattened, and his teeth bared in a silent snarl as a shudder rolled through him, compelled to return the howl before he registered what it was he was doing, his breath pluming in the night air. It was a desperate sound he gave back to the darkness, full of the longing he had been feeling since his transformations had begun, and Thor realised what it was only as he howled.

_Loki. I’ve been waiting for him. The beast has too._


	8. Chapter 8

 

There was a long, sudden silence after Thor’s howl, the air still and waiting as though holding its breath. The beast’s ears strained to catch an answer, Thor’s muscles trembling at the strain of holding position.

Finally, it came, and Thor hurled himself in the direction of the call on all fours, churning great chunks of dirt up in his wake. He could smell Loki now, familiar and intoxicating, but the scent was wilder now, earthy and rich like the soil beneath him, musky and dark and _thrilling_. It washed over Thor, his cock already hardening at the familiar aroma, as he pushed between the trees towards his brother. The part of Thor that was still coherent wondered as to what Loki would look like; the rest was screaming _mate, claim, fight_ like a chant in his head, his blood pounding through his veins.  He skidded into a clearing, blinking at the sudden glow of moonlight in the break in the trees, and stopped, trembling, to listen again.

He heard branches breaking, snapping, earth moving, and the harsh pants of some great beast across from him, and moving closer with every moment.

  1. A dark shadow, oil-black against the forest, broke away from the treeline and began charging towards him. _Loki_. He was blacker than the darkest night, green eyes burning in the moonlight like torches; and he was _huge_ , almost as big as Thor but lean and supple where Thor was bulky and powerful. Thor let out a roar and began to barrel towards Loki, the beast snarling and _claim_ ringing through his mind. Loki’s beast was quicker, his gait lower and smooth as he slipped across the clearing. Thor could see his teeth, long and white, flashing in the gloom; and then they were upon each other, tearing savagely, snarling all the while and clawing at each other’s backs in a frenzied battle of wills. It seemed evenly matched; Loki agile and quick for all of Thor’s brute strength, but Loki was still new to this form and his stamina and confidence wasn’t quite as honed as Thor’s had become. Soon he was flagging, his bites desperate. They were both bleeding and panting, fogging the cold air with harsh breaths, Thor’s cock hard against his stomach and his world narrowed to the fight and the thrill of Loki’s blood sparking on his tongue, flowing freely now that Thor wasn’t holding the beast back. Loki was hard, too; his cock curved and pale against the black of his fur. Thor could smell the rich scent of his arousal, his nose buried deep into the fur at Loki’s neck as he bit down, holding his brother still. _Yield_ , the beast thought, and Thor realised for the first time why they were fighting. _He has to submit to me_.



The thought sent a fresh spike of lust straight to his cock, and he tightened his grip, pulling and pushing Loki down to the ground inch by painful inch, Loki growling and snarling all the way, resisting and sinking teeth and claws into Thor as much as possible.

Finally, though, he was on the soil underneath Thor, on his stomach with his eyes flashing and his teeth bared silently, his claws splayed in the dirt. Thor crouched over him, biting at the nape of his neck just hard enough to feel the blood rushing under the surface, the beast showing Loki who was in charge and daring the black wolf to challenge it.

After a long moment of silence with Loki writhing and trying to free himself, he submitted, a low whine escaping him. Thor released his neck and looked at him properly for the first time, the beast itching to _mate, claim_ but Thor curious and holding it back to examine his brother as a wolf.

 _He’s beautiful_. Glossy and lean; the muscles rippling under his fur, his scent deep and rich and _good_ , exciting Thor and the beast equally.

Loki shot him a look over his shoulder that was clearly _Well? Get on with it!_ despite being unable to talk, and Thor snapped his teeth near to his brother’s muzzle in irritation even as he lowered his stance, pinning Loki to the earth underneath his massive body, claws digging into the ground for purchase.

Loki squirmed under him, pushing his hips up against Thor, trying to goad him into losing control. Thor resisted even as the beast screamed to take him, unsure as to how this would work with no lubrication.

_Animals fuck all the time, right? It has to work somehow._

Still…he pulled back far enough to run his claws across his mouth, coating his hand in saliva and slicking up his cock and knot roughly. It felt utterly alien to be doing that in this body, Thor having to fight to remember how past the beast’s lust and want, but when it was done, Thor allowed the wolf to take control again, snarling savagely and biting down on Loki’s shoulder as he pushed himself into his little brother’s body inch by inch. Loki howled, agonised, and dug his claws deep into the soil, his teeth bared and his breaths heaving; it was too much, too quickly, and he whined and writhed and growled until Thor was completely sheathed in him, his knot stretching Loki to his limit and beyond. Thor willed the beast to stop for a moment, ignoring the screaming in his blood, and waited until Loki relaxed, the muscles in his brother’s shoulders and arms trembling with the effort. Satisfied, he pulled out, the knot stretching Loki open again and making him snarl anew, before slamming back into his brother and beginning to fuck him viciously, his teeth deep in his shoulder. That blood was like a drug; golden and warm and sparking in his mouth, driving him on to further savagery; deeper, harder, slamming into Loki again and again until the beast under him was whining and arching and growling, his breath cut short each time Thor’s knot pushed into him, Loki’s own cock trapped between his stomach and the soft earth beneath him, causing delicious friction that was sending both Loki and the beast inside him wild. It didn’t take long for Loki to climax, spilling his seed against the ground with a snarl that was almost a moan.

It was over faster than Thor would have liked after that, his brutal thrusts and the scent of Loki’s seed just too overwhelming, the tight heat around his cock like the sweetest fire. He came howling, his mind screaming _Loki_ and his body wordless, his knot swollen and buried deep inside his brother as he collapsed onto him, panting and dizzy. After a moment, he nuzzled his muzzle into the fur at Loki’s throat, inhaling the familiar scent and relaxing into it until he was able to pull free of Loki’s body and shift to lie beside his brother.

 _My brother, the wolf,_ he thought idly, looking into Loki’s watchful green eyes. His fur contrasted starkly with the black beasts, his bleached almost white by the moonlight and Loki’s streaked with silver but still black like a shadow. Loki didn’t protest as Thor moved closer, wrapping his powerful arms around his brother’s shoulders now that he was feeling sleepy and sated.

He fell asleep almost before he realised it, far from the palace and his own rooms – and with no excuse or reason to be gone if he was missed in the morning.

 

 

**So next chapter I promise will come some of the answers to the questions I've been getting- I've been getting to it, I swear! Thanks to everyone who's reading this.**

 


	9. Chapter 9

He awoke with a jolt- alone, naked and still in the dirt. Loki was long gone, the ground where he had been lying already cold.

Thor stood, brushing earth from his skin, and frowned. _He should have woken me._ _I will be missed_. He began the walk back to the palace, trying to comb the tangles from his hair with his fingers as he walked. Being naked wasn’t a problem- Thor was hardly shy of his body, after all- but the question of how to get into the palace unseen was heavy on his mind.

Another, niggling worry, was what exactly Loki had gotten up to when Thor had been sleeping?

He was almost certain Loki wouldn’t be the type to stay quiet and hide up till he transformed back, but would he actually go off and cause trouble? _I wish I knew well enough to be certain._

Dawn was creeping golden fingers over the palace when he arrived, and he had to slip past several servants and guards who were busy at morning tasks.

 

Dressed and relatively calm now, he decided to go and speak to Heimdall. _If Loki has killed anyone-_

Surely not. Still, he fretted all the way to the Bifrost, half expecting to have someone come running at him screaming about a murder.

Heimdall, as always, was waiting for him; leaning against his sword and watching impassively as Thor approached and greeted him.

“I assume you’re here to discuss your brother?” Heimdall asked without preamble.

“Has he…?”

“He has injured no one. Thor-“

“I never meant for him to become what I am, I swear it- I tried- I was careless, I allowed myself to think I could handle it, but I was arrogant, I-“

“Your intentions, as ever, Thor, are not in question. However, the fact remains that you have created something which could potentially cause irreversible damage to the Realm. Loki is already unpredictable and tempestuous, and this power could drive him further from the path you wish for him.”

“I’ll control him- I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone. Just please, don’t tell Father.”

Heimdall was silent for a long moment, his eyes unblinking. Finally, he sighed. “I swore an oath to your Father, Thor. You know that. I already teeter on the brink of disobedience because I have not informed him of you and Loki’s….relations. I cannot stand idly by and watch your brother destroy lives.”

“He won’t. I promise.”

“And if he does? You know there is no cure by now, surely.”

“If he kills anyone-“ Thor took in a breath. “I’ll kill him myself. I swear it.”

“So be it. I will hold you to that oath, Son of Odin. And if you are unable, your Father will not be.”

Thor scowled at that, but ducked his head in acknowledgement. “And my mother?”

“I suspect your mother knows more than you realise,” Heimdall said evasively. “But about what, I cannot say. Loki is in the library.”

 _Cannot or will not,_ Thor thought as he left Heimdall to his post.

 

Loki was still there when Thor made it to the library, curled up in a corner with a thick book, seemingly peaceful and still. Thor didn’t trust that for one moment.

“Brother?” he said tentatively, sitting next to Loki. Loki ignored him for a long moment, pointedly, before sighing and lowering his book enough to look over it at Thor. “Yes?”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fantastic, why would you ask.” Loki’s eyes flicked back down to his book.

“You disappeared last night. Where did you go?”

“Was hungry.”

The statement was so ambiguous that Thor stared in horrified silence until Loki relented, adding, “When I woke up. Human. I went home so I could eat breakfast.”

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I thought it would be funny. Did anyone see you sneaking back to the palace with your dick swinging? I was imagining the horrified screams and awkward blushes of the serving staff all morning.”

“Thank you for that.”

“Any time. Are we done? I’m busy.”

“Loki-“ Thor pulled the book down and put it to one side. “You know I never wanted to make you like me. I’m so sorry, brother.”

“Spare me this conversation _again_. I’m so sorry Loki, please forgive me Loki, I want to ask if you have any uncontrollable urges to eat people but don’t know how to phrase it Loki. Always the same.”

“Do you?” Thor hadn’t meant for it to slip out, but there it was, hanging between them in the air like thunder.

“Of course I do, you idiot. Don’t you pretend that the beast you have inside you is all noble and selfless and only wants to nibble innocent rabbits.”

“It takes every ounce of my self-control to keep these people safe, Loki,” Thor growled. “I take every single precaution possible to ensure that I harm no one. Are you willing to do the same?”

“Oh, you are such a bore.”

“Enough!” Thor surged to his feet, grabbing Loki by the throat and pushing him back against the wall. Loki only smirked, subtly trying to press as much of himself against Thor as possible. “I need you to swear to me, Loki. Swear that I can trust you.”

“Why, Thor. Don’t want to deal with all the second-hand angst and guilt?”

“SWEAR IT!” He shook him, once, twice; Loki grimaced, irritated.

“Fine- fine, you great idiot. I swear I won’t kill any of your precious servants, menial workers or labourers.”

“I mean it. If you do-“

“What, you’re gonna cry? Sob over their body? Perhaps just one manly tear as you send them off to the afterlife?”

“I’ll kill you.”

“You’ll what?” Loki paused, stock still, his head tilted and his eyes wide and unreadable as he stared in disbelief at Thor.

_Is he about to cry?_

“I swore to Heimdall…if you hurt _anyone_ -“

Loki’s face twisted terribly into a pained, angry mask, teeth bared and eyes black. “ _Fine.”_

He shoved Thor’s chest, hard, and stalked off silently.

 

 

\--

**Sorry for the long gap guys, been a bit uncreative lately with work and stuff.**


	10. Chapter 10

Thor didn’t see Loki for the rest of that day. The evening inevitably drew in, and anxiously Thor prepared, dragging his goat leg far into the forest and hoping that Loki would follow it as well. The scent would be strong, delicious- surely Loki would be drawn to it as Thor was? He could only hope.

_And if he doesn’t? How do I stop him hurting anyone if I can’t even find him? If he doesn’t want to be found?_

That was a question Thor was hoping he wouldn’t have to answer. Not only would he have to inform his parents about Loki and his condition, but he would have to end the conversation with “and I don’t know where he is,” which was perhaps even worse.

With the darkening sky came the itching, like pine needles under his skin all rubbing against one another. He made his way into the forest anxiously, glancing around him often in case Loki was doing the same. There was no sign.

The transformation wasn’t any easier after all this time; the _sound_ of his bones snapping and reforming somehow worse than the pain itself, the fur coming through his skin like millions of needles stabbing the wrong way.

He lay panting for a long while after, gathering his strength and feeling the mind of the beast surging into him, filling his thoughts and revelling in his power.

_Kill._

_Not tonight,_ Thor managed firmly, pulling himself to his feet and scenting the night air. _Tonight we hunt for Loki._

He had been working on having more control ever since his first transformation, and tonight he exercised it fully, forcing himself to inhale deeply, searching not for the scent of game but for his brother. The beast resisted as always, but Thor forced the instinct down and stood still and silent, his eyes half closed.

 _Rabbit. Deer. Fox._ _My goat leg._ Nothing. Not a trace of the tantalising smell that had got Thor into so much trouble in the first place. The night was still, silent; almost too silent, in fact, as though everything was waiting breathlessly for Loki just as Thor was.

He dropped to a crouch, his ears straining to hear something, _anything_ , that would give him a clue as to Loki’s whereabouts. _Not even a broken branch._

Eventually he decided to follow the scent trail of his leg of goat, assuming- and hoping- that Loki would as well. There was little moonlight tonight and his golden fur seemed a ghostly blur among the trees, hardly corporeal.

The leg was where he had left it, undisturbed. Thor began to salivate at the mere scent of it, licking his jaws reflexively  and growling. But he left it alone, retreating to the edge of the small clearing where he’d dragged the meat and settling into a crouch.

He had no illusion that Loki wouldn’t smell him a mile away; the beast’s senses were sharp and primal. He only hoped that the scent of the meat would be delicious enough to bring him closer anyway.

_And what do you do when he gets here? Hug it out?_

He hadn’t thought of that- hadn’t thought much beyond _finding_ Loki to really work out a plan. But he assumed he would have to dominate his brother, force him to submit somehow, and keep him busy until he turned back. The prospect excited the beast as much as it reluctantly thrilled Thor.

Hours passed. Thor began to grow restless, his stomach growling. But forced himself to wait, ignoring the desperation and the hunger of the wolf.

He stilled, the intoxicating smell of his brother’s beast drifting towards him on the still night air, wild and earthy and powerful.  Thor tensed, powerful muscles coiled and ready, as the scent became stronger, deeper and full of information; _He’s eaten tonight, he’s been running hard, he is aroused_. Thor felt his cock stir in response to the scent of arousal from Loki, his teeth bared and the hair on his hackles bristling.

A shadow moved across the clearing, and Thor caught a glimpse of burning green eyes before Loki moved into view, staring right at him. He stopped just in front of the goat leg, crouched warily, his muscles rippling underneath his black fur and his head tilted to one side. Even without the benefit of speech, Thor knew he was being mocked, but for what, he could only imagine.

 _Is it easier without talking, or harder?_ he wondered. What did you say when the last thing you told him was that you would kill him?

Insolently, Loki moved to the leg and began gnawing on it lazily, his eyes locked to Thor’s.

_Is that a challenge?_

The beast took it as one before Thor could form a reasoned reaction. He rose to his feet, snarling viciously, and lunged at Loki, snapping his teeth in warning. Loki turned his head, shoving back at Thor and pushing him backwards, his claws finding purchase in Thor’s back and raking down agonisingly. Thor howled in pain, twisting to bite at Loki’s throat and tasting blood. The black wolf ducked, pulled back from Thor’s grip and thrust himself back upwards, his teeth finding the soft spot under Thor’s arm and biting down. It became vicious; the two beasts writhing in the dirt, ripping at each other’s flesh and fur with savage fury until all Thor could smell was their mingled blood and arousal.

Eventually it stilled to a deadlock; Thor on his back, his throat gripped between Loki’s teeth, and Loki’s vulnerable stomach threatened by Thor’s razor sharp back claws. Thor felt Loki’s hot breath on his neck, could feel his brother’s cock hard against his own. His control was slipping again; he could _feel_ the beast’s lust and desperation mirroring his own, edging him closer to the point of no return.

Somehow Loki seemed to sense it, pushing his hips forward to slide his slick cock against Thor’s, and that was it; Thor’s control snapped like a bowstring, shoving his feet with all their force against Loki’s stomach and twisting out of his grip with furious grace, reaching out with his claws to drag at Loki and force him to the ground, his brother snarling and snapping at him all the while.

Thor pinned him down against the soft earth, taking a breath after the struggle.

He was puzzled when Loki stilled suddenly; and even more so when he turned his head to look up at Thor with the wolfish equivalent of a smug expression-and turned into a rat, slipping from Thor’s grasp in a flash and scampering around to the side of him before returning to the wolf form and lunging at Thor, crashing him muzzle first into the ground, winded.

Thor was shell-shocked; how in _Hel_ had he managed to learn that? That had to be some serious magic he was working, even for such a short time period. He had little time to think, though, before Loki’s hard cock was sliding against his back, hot and slick, and Thor was arching his back, spreading his legs to allow his brother access, the scent of his own arousal thick in the air and mingled with Loki’s in a heady, intoxicating whirl. He lowered his head, panting, and dug his claws into the ground for stability, knowing that this was probably going to be uncomfortable. _Mate,_ he heard in his head, his mind foggy and clouded with bloodlust and arousal. It was harder than ever to remain rational when the scent of magic and sex was all around him, the beast’s primal urges and need to mate, to hunt, all he could hear above the roar of blood in his ears and the shallow breaths he was taking. Every instinct told him to fight this, to dominate, even though Thor was regularly on this side of sex when fucking his brother. Clearly, the beast did not want to be claimed itself. Thor fought back, grimly holding himself in check until he felt the beast relax against his brain, accepting Loki’s dominance for the moment.

Loki paused for a second, and Thor felt him shift slightly before his body was heavy on Thor’s again, his cock pushing insistently against Thor’s entrance, slicked with saliva.

 _That’s not- not enough-_ Thor thought wildly, tensing instantly and earning a vicious snarl from Loki, his brother’s jaws clamping firmly down on the back of his neck and holding him still.

The beast wanted to thrash, to fight this new development; Thor squashed it down and forced himself to relax slowly, knowing that it would be easier for everyone. Loki softened his teeth’s grip on his brother’s neck in response, pushing himself into Thor in one agonisingly long, slow stroke. Thor whined and dug his claws into the ground harder, his teeth bared in a silent snarl as he was impaled on Loki’s cock, the pain blinding and intense and edged with only a little of the delicious slow ache that he needed.

Loki stilled before his knot entered Thor, pulling back and setting a slow, steady pace that was almost teasing, driving Thor to bite at the ground and at his own arms in frustration, growling low in his throat all the while. Finally the pain subsided and pleasure crept in, spreading warmth through his body and allowing him to relax more, the beast also relaxing as the arousal took over its instinct to fight. The scent around them shifted again to a deeper, muskier aroma, and Loki shifted his hips, dug his claws and teeth hard into Thor, and slammed back into his brother viciously, his knot stretching Thor beyond anything he had ever experienced and making him howl.

 _Ah, fuck-_ _too much-_

Then Loki was fully sheathed inside him, and the feeling was _indescribable_ , as though he had waited all his life for Loki to fill him like this. His relief was short-lived as Loki began fucking him in earnest, snarling savagely and pounding into Thor again and again until he was whimpering and desperate, his breath short and harsh and his cock almost painfully hard between his thighs. Loki pressed down hard on the small of Thor’s back, forcing his hips to the ground and pinning him there as he continued to fuck him brutally.

From this angle, Thor found his cock sliding against the soft grass, the friction delicious and so sudden that he could barely hold back. _This is what Loki felt that first time._ No wonder he had come back for more. Thor shifted his massive arms to take his weight better, the muscles trembling as he held himself up, and allowed himself to ride the sensation fully, pulling back so that he experienced it all through the beast’s own heightened senses – the sound of Loki’s cock pushing into him again and again, the huff of breath on the back of his neck, the knowledge of his own power and the fact that he could stop this at any moment if he chose to, and the sensation of his own hard cock rubbing against the earth- until it was too much, and his orgasm crashed over him uncontrollably, sending him shuddering to the earth as Loki followed, his knot buried deep inside Thor as he spilled his seed with a wordless, guttural howl.

 

 

 

 

**I am beyond sorry how long this has taken- my partner's parents arrived for a week and I physically cannot write when I'm around them because I come home so exhausted every night and it all turns to mush and crap! I should be doing better now though, thanks for the patience.**

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

Thor awoke early in the morning, just as dawn was creeping over the horizon and streaking through the canopy above him. He was, unsurprisingly, alone, but at least this time he was early enough to sneak back home unnoticed. He set off through the woods, aching and stiff and remembering the night before with a flush of arousal. He wondered how the beast would react now that he had submitted once, and whether Loki’s own beast would assume dominance to be implicit from now on. He suspected that it would be a painful assumption.

His legs were sore and shaky, his whole body exhausted- but sated, and he felt contentment in among the minor aches.  Nearing the palace, he began to walk more carefully, mindful of any early-rising servants or groundskeepers who may be around.

 

The rank smell of blood caught his attention even in his Asgardian form, and he turned to find the cause, searching across the gardens to his left and padding through the dew-tipped meadow towards the scent.

In the tall grass that bordered the gardens was a body; one of the palace guards, from the uniform he was wearing, though Thor didn’t recognise him. The man had been slashed open almost into two pieces, his intestines spilling out onto the grass, still warm to the touch and foul-smelling. His arms had been gnawed off to the elbow, one foot ripped from his body and left a few metres away. There was a pool of blood spreading under him, his hair sticky and black with it, his face a bloodless mask of shock and terror.

Thor leaned in closer, narrowing his eyes. _Those are bite-marks._

The corpse showed definite signs of being partially eaten, the edges of the wounds chewed and torn and several organs clearly missing.

Thor sucked in a breath, feeling suddenly dizzy, and sat back on his heels in the wet grass to think.

_Loki? Would Loki do this?_ His heart wanted desperately to say no, to ignore the dread and the doubt that was creeping through his head; but the body was fresh, and mutilated, and had the stench of animal about it.

His hands were shaking. He clenched his fists and took another look at the body, carefully, trying to find any evidence that it was not his brother’s work. What he found instead were a few black hairs on the dead man’s neck.

He wished he could have felt betrayal or shock; he didn’t like the hollow resignation in the pit of his stomach or the dull buzz at the base of his skull. Still his mind turned wildly, looking for an excuse, for another culprit.

He would visit Heimdall. First, though, he must report this poor man’s death to the Palace.

And perhaps find some clothing.

 

-

 

Heimdall was waiting for him when Thor arrived, his face thunderous and his grip tight on his sword.

“Was it him?” Thor asked without preamble, his breathing hard and his heart pounding. “Please. I must know.”

Heimdall shrugged expansively, staring at Thor. “I do not know.”

_What?_  “Do not jest, Heimdall. I _have_ to know if it was Loki.”

“And I do not know,” he repeated stubbornly.

“How can that be?”

“Your brother has been shielding himself from my sight, for a few days now.”

“ _How?”_

“If I knew that, I would be able to stop him.”

_Surely he could not have learned such magic already? To be able to fool Heimdall, it must be strange magic indeed._

“So you have no idea if the body- if Loki was the one who –“

“I was distracted by the anomaly Loki is emitting. I was searching elsewhere. I did not see the murder.”

Thor let out a breath he wasn’t aware that he was holding, his shoulders sagging as the adrenaline began to leave his system.

Heimdall wasn’t finished, however. “Thor, I believe it is Loki who did this, regardless of what I did or did not see. Why else would he cloud my vision but to evade capture?”

“Surely he-“

“He must be stopped, Thor. You swore an oath to me that you would not allow this to happen. Need I remind you of your responsibilities?”

“Give me more time,” Thor pleaded. “I need to find out for certain. I will not kill my brother – you know what more he is to me, Heimdall, you must know- without knowing the full truth.”

“You have three days,” Heimdall said with finality. “If he is not dead or acquitted within that time, I will take matters into my own hands.”

Thor left before he lost control of himself and his emotions, his hands clenched so tightly that his palms were bleeding. _I need to find Loki, right now. But where?_ His brother was an expert at not being found when he chose, and if it was him who had killed that guard, he was hardly likely to be hanging around somewhere close by. Thor suspected he would see nothing of Loki until dusk, and even then not in a form where he could ask questions.

When he returned to the palace, his head swimming with confusion, he was greeted by a worried group of people on the steps. They turned when he arrived, and immediately all started shouting, surging towards him. Thor managed to quiet them eventually, shouting to be heard over the din and raising his hands placatingly. “Please,” he said loudly and firmly. “One of you. Tell me what the matter is and I swear I will do all I can to help.”

An old man came forward, his face seamed like leather and weathered by the years. “There’s some kind of a beast mutilating our livestock, Your Highness,” he began, and then hesitated. “Except…”

“Yes?” Too distracted by Loki, Thor was only half paying attention to the man, until his next words. “Except, it’s killed some of us, too,” he continued almost apologetically. “We found the bodies of two young men this morning, ripped apart by it. Looks like a wild dog, or a wolf, except, begging your pardon, I’ve never seen a wolf attack two men at once.”

Thor’s heart sank and his vision swam. “Two?”

“Yes, Your highness. Just this morning. Out in our field.”

_That makes three, not including livestock. Loki, could this truly be your work?_

“I swear I will do all in my power to find and destroy this creature,” Thor said, his mouth feeling wadded with cotton and his head beginning to ache. “Please, leave me.”

The crowd dispersed slowly, muttering among themselves, and Thor finally reached his chambers. He locked the doors, put his head in his hands, and wept silently.


	12. Chapter 12

 

He didn’t manage to find Loki that day, and when the transformation came in the evening, Loki was still nowhere to be found. Thor searched the woods, howling intermittently and straining his ears to hear a response, but either Loki wasn’t nearby, or he was ignoring him. Thor hunted, eating listlessly even though the beast was hungry, and prowled around, scenting the night air again and again in a fruitless attempt to find his brother. Not that he knew what he would do if he did find him; they could hardly speak in these forms, and he knew Loki was still hurting from Thor’s threat to his life.

 _You are doing your duty,_ he reminded himself, the beast much easier to control when Loki wasn’t around and his belly was full. _To Asgard, to the people. You must keep them safe, even if it is from your own brother._

He knew all of that. So why did it feel as though he was the one in the wrong?

He paced through the forest some more, alternately feeling completely alone under the stars and having to shake himself of the feeling of being watched. His fur prickled, each time feeling as though there were eyes on him, but he could neither smell nor see anything in the thick darkness of the forest around him. It was disconcerting; and although he was sure he saw burning green eyes through the trees more than once, there was never a scent to accompany them. _I must be going mad,_ he thought.

The end of the night came slowly, Thor hurrying back to the palace much earlier than usual, simply to get away from the sensation of being watched.

 

Sleep came slowly, his dreams fretful and frightening.

 

\--

 

The morning was bright, a soft breeze drifting through the palace, and Thor awoke slowly, his head aching painfully behind his eyes and his muscles throbbing. He groped his way to his bath, sinking into the hot water with a drawn-out groan and closing his eyes, rubbing at his forehead.

“Morning.”

Thor jerked, turning his head and staring wide-eyed at Loki, who had slipped into the other side of the large bathing pool silently. His scar was red and painful looking, the rest of him submerged in the hot water. He was leaning far too casually against the edge of the bath, looking warily at Thor through dark, unreadable eyes.

“Loki! Where have you been?” Thor wanted to say so much, to ask so many questions, but he couldn’t get them all out at once, his tongue suddenly thick and useless in his mouth.

Loki didn’t answer for a long while, looking hard at Thor, before eventually sighing. “I didn’t exactly relish the idea of being near someone who wants to kill me.”

“I did not say I _wanted_ to kill you, Loki-“

“Only that you would if I hurt one of your precious menial labourers.”

 “Loki, this curse- it is _dangerous,_ you know that. If we allow ourselves to lose control, even for a moment-“ he didn’t know where to take it from there; surely _And I know you have done_ would not be a wise course of action. “-We can destroy everything that we love.”

“That you love.”

“Loki,” Thor sighed, exasperated and scared about what he had to ask next. “Loki…there were bodies found. Attacked.”

Loki didn’t react other than to shrug. “And?”

“And they look like they were attacked by a huge animal. There was black fur on one of the bodies, bite marks. Loki-”

“And you think it was me, don’t you?” Suddenly Loki was leaning forward, his face screwed up in rage. “You think I killed them!”

“I do not know what to think, brother. Heimdall could see you; he said you are hiding yourself from him. I couldn’t find you either. Where were you? Why do you feel the need to hide in shadows and mist, brother? I do not understand, and then these attacks, right after I-“

“After you threatened to murder me if I stepped out of line? Come on, _brother_ , you can say it. Say that you want me dead- here-“ he splashed his way forwards, spreading his arms wide and staring at Thor furiously- “Here I am. Kill me, then, if you’re so desperate to have me gone. I’m sure Odin will clap you on the back and congratulate you for a job well done-“ he hiccupped, choking back a sob that even Thor couldn’t miss and blinking rapidly, even as he scowled at Thor.

“I do not wish you dead, Loki,” Thor snarled, knowing he was losing it and unable to stop himself. “But I _must_ protect Asgard! I swore an oath-“

“And what would you do if I denied it? Would you believe me?”

“If you swore to me, truly, that it wasn’t you, brother, then –“

“Then you would wring your hands and pretend to cry and kill me anyway, for the _good of the realm_?”

“No! Listen to me, Loki, for once in your life-“

“I’ve listened enough.” He moved to leave, but Thor grabbed his arm painfully. “Wait, Loki. Just- tell me. Was it you?”

“If you have to ask, you wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

“Then why hide from Heimdall?”

“Do you ever find it _slightly_ strange that he stands around staring at you at all times, Thor? That he is- very likely- watching you every time you touch yourself or take a piss? Is it _so_ difficult for you to comprehend someone not enjoying that?”

“Well-“ in truth, it had never occurred to Thor to see it that way- Heimdall protected the Realm just as he did, using his talent to the fullest. But Loki was always a secretive creature; always hiding behind books and learning magic to deceive others- was it possible that Loki was telling the truth about his reasoning?

“The magic to do such a thing is advanced-“

“That magic is available to anyone who cares to read a book that doesn’t just have pictures in, Thor,” Loki snapped, tugging his arm out of Thor’s grasp. Thor winced- the jibe was not a new one, but was usually said in much easier terms. “Loki…”

“No. It’s fine. I’ll go. Can’t have you sharing space with a _murderer,_ can we.” He waded to the side of the bath and pulled himself out gracefully. Thor hissed through his teeth.

“Where did you get those?” Loki was covered in scratches, red and sore looking, criss-crossing his chest and arms.

“Hunting.” He pulled a towel around himself.

“You should be more careful.”

“Don’t pretend that my safety is your priority, Thor.”

“Loki, stop.” Thor climbed out of the water, moving to Loki and touching his arm gently. “Please, brother. I need to know that this wasn’t you. I have three days to prove you didn’t do this, and believe me, there is nothing I want more-“

Loki shrugged him off. “You did this to me, Thor. Live with it.”

“I did it because you _tricked me into it!_ ” he roared, balling his hands into tight fists. “Now _tell_ me!”

Loki paused, glancing back over his shoulder, seeming to think something through in his mind. Eventually, he smiled, a tight, painful grin that was all teeth and no joy. “Fine,” he shrugged, too casually, and started to leave. “I did it. Come and get me.”

He left Thor standing naked and cold, staring after him like a fool.


	13. Chapter 13

 

_Come and get me._

Loki’s words echoed through Thor’s head for the rest of the day.

 _He admitted it,_ he thought repeatedly. _He said he did it._ But surely he’d only done that because Thor had pushed him, had made him angry- Loki was always contrary, he’d said it just to spite Thor-

 _You are lying to yourself,_ that little voice in his head whispered treacherously. _You don’t want to admit that it could be the truth._

Of course he didn’t want his brother- his everything- to be guilty of such heinous acts. But how could he prove otherwise when even _Loki_ wouldn’t deny it any longer? Heimdall would surely take such an admission as proof.

 _Then I won’t tell him,_ Thor resolved. _Not until I know for sure._

The transformation that evening was easy, Thor desperate to slip out of his thoughts and just _hunt_ ; but even then there was no peace as Loki’s scent seemed to linger around him all night, just out of reach, tantalising and musky. It drove the beast wild, making him kill without thought and eat ravenously until his stomach felt full to bursting. And still it wasn’t satisfied, roaming the forest and howling intermittently, trying to find Loki’s beast without success.

Finally, after pacing through most of the woods, Thor stumbled across Loki quite by accident.

He was crouched over a carcass, eating hungrily; Thor’s stomach lurched briefly, wondering if it was human, before seeing the antlers and knowing it was just a stag, unlucky enough to cross Loki’s path. He turned, snarling viciously, his eyes glowing like lamps in the darkness. His jaws were splattered with blood, dripping to the ground as he growled.

Thor tried to look as unthreatening as possible, lowering his head and backing off a little, but the scent of blood was too much for the beast, and before Thor really understood what was happening, he was launching himself at Loki with a full-throated roar, his teeth bared and his claws out. They hit home; digging into Loki’s fur hard and making him howl out in pain before he could react, twisting away and sinking his own teeth deep into Thor’s shoulder. They fought for what felt like a long while; ripping out clumps of fur, tearing into each other in almost silence except for their heavy breathing and the occasional whine of pain. By the time they were exhausted, they were both bleeding heavily, Loki almost blinded in one eye by a rivulet of blood and Thor gashed painfully across his chest by Loki’s claws. Neither had really won, and the carcass of the deer was left half eaten beside them both, forgotten for the moment. They stared at each other, panting heavily and trying to lick their wounds without looking too hurt.

 _I wish we could talk_ , Thor thought, not for the first time. Instead, he had to rely on faulty at best body language.

He lowered himself to the ground, painfully, and looked up at Loki searchingly, trying to show that he didn’t want to fight, that he was submissive, friendly. It rankled his beast to be positioned like this, but Thor ignored it.

Loki didn’t move, staring him down coolly and licking at one claw. Thor could almost feel the contempt radiating from him, regardless of language barriers. Finally, Loki seemed satisfied with his claw and rose to his feet, shaking himself grandly until his fur was sleek again. Thor stayed where he was, flat on his belly, watching carefully.

 _If he’s with me, he can’t hurt anyone,_ was his only thought, repeating again and again through his mind. _No matter what he does to me, he cannot kill. Then I will know for sure._

Loki dropped to all fours, coming closer to sniff deeply at Thor, scenting at him all over languidly as though aware of the discomfort Thor was in in this position and wanting to prolong it a little longer. Then suddenly, without preamble, Loki was behind him, the beast mounting him and preparing to enter Thor.

 _What in Hel? He can’t just-_ Thor thought wildly, twisting and scrabbling at the ground, trying to escape, the gashes on his chest sore and still sluggishly bleeding. Loki merely held him in place with one powerful arm and lowered his muzzle to Thor’s entrance, licking and scenting at it until Thor thought he would die of shame and almost unbearable arousal.

It didn’t take long for Thor to be completely hard, his cock trapped between him and the earth and his breathing harsh and whining. Loki paid no attention to him, continuing to lick and nuzzle until Thor couldn’t take it anymore, turning his head and growling warningly. _Do something or I’ll make you._

Finally, Loki relented, pulling his head back and licking his jaws obscenely slowly as Thor watched, before digging his claws deep into Thor’s back and pushing his cock hard into his brother, sheathing himself fully before pausing. Thor roared both at the pain of entry and the burning agony of the rakes in his skin from Loki’s claws both on his back and his belly, the beast furious at being used like this again even as Thor revelled in being fucked. It was a struggle to keep the beast from throwing Loki off and attacking him; Thor pushed it back as far as possible, focusing on the stretching ache of his body taking Loki’s cock and knot as he slammed back into him, knocking the breath out of Thor for a moment as he started a brutally hard pace, his muzzle close on Thor’s neck, his breath harsh against the beast’s ear.

The friction on Thor’s cock was delicious and frustrating, Thor pushing his hips into the ground as much as he could just to get more, the soft earth against him yielding and warm and wonderful, quietening even the beast enough to just enjoy the sensation of being taken like this again. Loki was different in this form; he was less needy, less clingy, all about the domination and the power of fucking his big brother, his beast clearly sure that he was in control even though Thor’s wasn’t at all certain of it, unable to stop himself growling low in his throat in an ineffectual warning. Loki ignored him; impaling him again and again, gripping Thor’s neck in his jaws to get a better hold on him, until Thor could only whine and scrabble at the ground, his cock slick against the mossy earth beneath him, the friction almost too much and too good to bear anymore. He came wordlessly, his teeth bared and his claws tearing at the floor, unable to breathe properly as Loki continued to fuck him long past his tolerance.

Finally Loki slammed into him once more and stilled, spilling his seed deep inside Thor, his knot feeling huge and painful to Thor’s oversensitive body. He collapsed onto Thor, grunting softly, and was almost instantly too heavy for Thor to cope with.

As soon as they were able to separate, Thor shoved him off, snarling viciously, but Loki just looked at him lazily and rolled onto his side, looking as though he was instantly asleep. Thor hesitated for a long moment before deciding to stay awake through the night, watching his brother carefully to make sure he could not disappear again.

 

 

It took only two hours for him to fall asleep where he sat, leaving Loki unguarded.

 

 

 

**Okay, I have very little excuse for why this took so long, I'm so sorry- I play on a virtual dragon website and I was running an event for the whole of last week which really took up a lot more time than I assumed it would, and I've had no imagination to write werewolf porn. Apologies! I'll try to get the next bit done a lot faster ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

 

Inevitably, he awoke alone. The sun was already rising, he was back in his own body, and the mossy grass beside him was empty save for the indentation Loki’s body had left. He rolled to his feet, running his palm across the flattened grass and finding it still warm. _What does Loki have against waking up with someone?_ he thought sleepily, before the more urgent thought kicked in- _did he hurt anyone?_

He scrubbed a hand through his hair and looked around wildly for a moment as if expecting Loki to be stood there, naked as he was and smirking. But he wasn’t, and if he had been there, what would Thor have even said? Glad you aren’t off murdering someone, brother?

Thor sighed, stretching himself and feeling muscles pop back into place. The wounds he had sustained last night were healing, leaving ragged red scabs criss-crossing his chest and arms.

_Better go see the damage,_ he thought wearily, setting off back home.

 

He managed to sneak back in unnoticed, and even got to his chambers before anyone came near. Pulling on some clothes hastily, he answered the knock on his door and attempted to look sleep-ruffled.

“Begging your pardon, Thor, but there’s been another body found, and the Allfather isn’t here-“

_Diplomatic meeting,_ he remembered. “Yes, yes. Where was the body found?”

“Out by the rose gardens,” the guard said, his face pale. “He was mutilated and- and eaten.”

“Do you know how long he has been dead?” Thor asked quickly.

“By the body temperature and the state of the blood, we think he was killed around four hours ago- but-“

_Four hours? Loki had to still be sleeping then, the grass was warm when I touched it, as though he had only left moments before._

Thor dismissed the man as quickly as possible, his head spinning. He had to face the very real probability that Loki may be innocent after all- at least of some of these murders, of not all.

_I have to find him._

 

That proved to be easier said than done, as usual when it came to his brother.

Eventually, though, he found him in the library, tucked into an alcove right at the back corner where most people didn’t even bother to check.

He had his head buried deep into a book of magic, and he didn’t even bother looking up when Thor sat down beside him, even when he cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Loki,” Thor said at length.

“Thor.”

“Loki, I-“

“Thor, you?” Loki sighed heavily and glanced up over his book. “Please speak so you can go away again.”

“I’m sorry,” Thor said in one quick breath, feeling immediately lighter for it. “I should have listened to you.”

“Well, you often should, but you never usually apologise, so I only assume you mean for believing that I was killing off your little peasant friends.”

“You haven’t killed…any of them?” Thor asked carefully.

Loki gave him a withering glance and returned his attention to the book. “Well, there goes that reconciliation. Nice try, perhaps we should do this again sometime.”

“I need to know, brother.”

“It’s all _brother_ this and _brother_ that when you want something, isn’t it. Would you call me brother when you raised your hammer to strike the killing blow?”

“I would never kill you,” Thor said, realising in that moment that it was true; it was always true and always would be, no matter what Loki did or had ever done. He recognised it as a weakness in him that he didn’t think he would ever overcome. The knowledge of this gave him some peace.

“Not even for the _good of the realms?_ ” Loki said with his most important voice. He turned the page in his book and pretended to be engrossed again.

“Not for any realm,” Thor said earnestly.

“We’ll see.”

_What does that even mean?_ _How much do you plan to test me?_

“Is… is my apology accepted?” Thor asked.

“No.” After a moment, though, Loki glanced up at him and gave him a small, brief smile before returning to ignoring him. Thor decided that he should quit while he was ahead, and left after patting Loki on the thigh in what he hoped was a reassuring way.

 

_If it’s not Loki, what is it?_ he wondered. And there was always the possibility that it _was_ still somehow Loki, using magic to trick him. He hadn’t been so confused in years.

_I need a bath._

He reflected that he missed Loki very much as he sat and soaked gratefully in the hot pool. It wasn’t the same, now that all they did was argue as themselves and fuck or fight as beasts. He missed the talking, the intimacy- not that Loki would have admitted to that- and the almost normal day-to-day running of their relationship. _I just want this to be over, one way or another,_ he thought glumly, washing his wounds. _I want my brother back._ Not for the first time, he wished he hadn’t been bitten in the first place, that hunting trip to Midgard seeming petty and ridiculous after all the heartache it had caused.

_You lie to yourself. You love the power._

He couldn’t deny that, at least. But why had he allowed Loki to trick him into turning _him,_ too? Thor was the older one, the responsible one. He should have been more careful, should have never allowed himself to lose control like that. Now Loki was running wild, without any boundaries or rules.

_You should have behaved like his Alpha while you had the chance. Bullied him into behaving if you had to. This never would have happened then._

 

Actually, that wasn’t such a bad idea. What if he could teach Loki how to behave, like a wolf would? Teach him to be controlled and to hunt carefully, to not be seen- and at the same time, he would learn if Loki was in fact telling him the truth, because he would be with him all night.

Thor dunked his head under the water and came out spluttering, the thought reeling around his mind as he tested it from every angle, trying to see faults in it.

_He might not agree._

Well, he didn’t have to. The beasts didn’t exactly communicate with words.

_If it isn’t him…perhaps we can stop whatever it is, together, if we’re actually able to work like a pack._

That thought was particularly interesting to him. He only had one day though, before Heimdall would tell and ruin everything.

_Then it begins tonight, and if I learn anything at all, I’ll go and tell Heimdall it wasn’t Loki. Even if I’m not sure myself._

It was a much happier Thor who dried himself off and went to get something to eat, lost in his own thoughts at the table and thoroughly exasperating his mother, who asked him to pass the sauce four times before he heard her. He apologised with a sunny smile that had her rolling her eyes and sighing, but got him off the hook as he continued planning in his mind for that night. Loki would learn, or he would die.

But it wouldn’t be by Thor’s hand, he was determined.


	15. Chapter 15

That night, determined, Thor set out into the forest as soon as he had transformed, ignoring the beast’s protests of hunger and scenting the air repeatedly as he prowled through the trees. It didn’t take long to pick up Loki this time; clearly his brother was done with hiding.

Thor approached confidently, head high and teeth bared in a warning. He tried to make himself look as big as possible, as intimidating as he could. He knew he was impressive, his fur like gold in the starlight, his eyes impossibly blue and seeming to glow in the half-light.

Loki froze as soon as he saw Thor and his new attitude, his eyes narrowing to burning slits and his whole body language changing, turning inwards, defensive. He half crouched, hunched on the balls of his feet, and stared at Thor with wary, dangerous interest.

 _I wish I could just explain,_ Thor thought in irritation, somewhat at a loss after his big entrance. The beast supplied him with help, snarling viciously and showing his teeth in a challenge. The beast in unison with Thor brooked no argument, both beings in tune with each other for once to terrifying effect, and Loki shrank, his ears flattening against his head and his body lowering to the ground.

Just as Thor started to relax, though, Loki seemed to win a battle against his own beast, snarling and growling suddenly, his muscles coiling as he readied an attack. Thor barely had time to react before Loki was on him, tearing into his fur with sharp teeth and claws. He fell back, startled, until his beast kicked into action, throwing Loki off him with one mighty shove and pinning him to the ground. This could not be a prolonged fight; it had to be decisive and fast, before Loki got an advantage. Thor could never hope to have him submit if they were rolling in the dirt for hours.

Thor spread his feet either side of Loki, using his huge weight to push him down to the ground, his teeth dangerously close to Loki’s throat. Loki struggled, but in vain, Thor too heavy and solid on top of him to move.

Finally he stopped trying, looking as sulky as it was possible for him to look. He glared up at Thor with his eyes narrowed and his tongue lolling out, slowly relaxing under Thor. With a final, warning snarl, Thor released him, moving back to crouch in front of him.

Loki got to his feet in a dignified manner, shaking the dust from his coat disdainfully. Thor stood to his full height, trying to convey his authority without the tools of language. It seemed to work; Loki looked up at him from under his eyelids, his ears flat and his posture unthreatening.  He was breathing hard; his hands clenched into tight fists, his claws surely digging into his skin. Thor eyed him warily, not daring to relax until all the fight had gone out of Loki’s stance.

_Did it work? Is he going to follow me now?_

The only way to test it was to try, and so with a jerk of his head, Thor turned and started to lead Loki off into the forest. It took a few, heart-stopping moments, but then he heard Loki’s footfalls behind him as he began to follow.

 _Now what the hell do I do?_ was Thor’s next thought; luckily, the beast knew exactly what he was doing, lowering his head to scent in front of them, searching for prey they could take down together, as a pack. _Stag_.

That was large enough; Thor quickened his pace, slipping silently between the trees with Loki close beside him on his left flank, his own muzzle low and his eyes focused. They stalked the unsuspecting stag to a clearing filled with starlight, the beauty of the scene breathtaking but unheeded by both beasts as they attacked as one, fighting just like they had in battle so many times; together, not a word needed between them as they took down the huge stag in seconds, Thor breaking its neck and Loki attacking the legs, pinning it down for Thor to finish off.

They ate ravenously, side by side, bones crunching under their teeth and blood splattering their muzzles. Soon all that was left were the antlers and skull, and a few scattered, splintered bones, the marrow sucked from them.

Thor rose when he was full and stalked away from the kill without looking back, and Loki followed with less hesitation than before. Thor’s beast kept Loki in check as they prowled the forest, snarling and nipping at him when he got too far forward, keeping him to the left and slightly behind Thor, showing him who was in charge efficiently until it became second nature to Loki and he stopped trying to push ahead. He didn’t look happy; he growled and eyed Thor almost constantly, but at least he was behaving.

They hunted again and again, eating extravagantly, until their stomachs were full and they couldn’t manage any more despite their best efforts. Gradually Thor began to eat first, not allowing Loki to have his fill until he was done and snarling viciously at him if Loki tried to slink in and eat. Thor ate more than he probably should have, just to try and hammer home the point that he was in charge, he ate first, and Loki only ate when it pleased his own whim.

This was not a lesson Loki enjoyed; used to getting his own way and being a wretchedly manipulative little brother, he snapped and growled and flattened his ears every time Thor stopped him, Loki’s beast just as irritated as Loki himself and always seeming just a second away from attack.

Finally, Loki got the idea, which was good because Thor really couldn’t manage to hunt another animal, much less eat it. He felt exhausted and heavy, his stomach tender and his muscles aching from the exertion and the strain of keeping his dominant posturing up all night. But he’d done it;

Loki was still with him, and he didn’t even have to glance over his shoulder to know that the black shadow would be there by his left side, silent and watchful and constant. They’d stayed awake- the sun was beginning to rise above the horizon- and Loki had definitely not killed anything except a half-dozen deer, some unfortunate hares, a fox, a stray mountain goat and one unlucky pigeon.

Thor turned for home with his chest lighter than it had been in days, knowing he could truthfully tell Heimdall that tonight at least, Loki had been kept safe away from people.

They transformed on the edge of the forest as the sun spilled golden light across the meadow. Loki turned to one side silently and dug into a hollow tree, pulling out a set of clothing and tugging it on until he looked as though he’d merely been out for a jaunt, except for the blood-streaks on his hands and face.

Thor gaped. It had truly never occurred to him to do that- he had spent every morning sneaking back into the palace when he could have sauntered through.

“What? You’re not telling me you haven’t done this,” Loki said softly, giving Thor a partly bewildered, partly smug look.

“It- didn’t occur to me,” he admitted slowly, studying the blood drying under his nails.

“Well, it’s a good job _one_ of us is prepared- honestly, Thor, how long have you been doing this?” He huffed in a good natured way that warmed Thor’s heart, and turned back to the tree, pulling out another set of clothes. “These might fit at least well enough for now,” he said with a sigh, tossing them to Thor. “I can’t help that you’re big enough to look ridiculous in _everything_.”

Thor pulled on the shirt- loose fitting enough to look passable- and eyed the trousers. They were clearly Loki’s; tight fitting leather that left little to the imagination even on _Loki_ , never mind him. He looked up to see Loki leaning against the tree and smirking at him. “Well, do hurry up.”

Thor pulled on the trousers, rearranging himself uncomfortably a few times and eventually settling for them staying unlaced with the shirt carefully placed over them to hide the bad fit. Loki scrutinised him.

“You’ll do, I suppose,” he allowed, and made a shooing gesture. “Let’s go.”

Thor noted that he fell right back into his usual position at Thor’s side, making him smile softly at the progress he’d made. _Perhaps this will work after all,_ he allowed. _Loki seems to be doing well; maybe we can work together, find out what’s going on._

He didn’t see the odd look Loki was giving him, nor the strange, sad expression in his brother’s eyes as they returned to the palace to get some sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

 

No one had died that night; they found out when they awoke. Thor didn’t know whether to be elated, or distressed that it still didn’t take his brother out of the frame. Still, he excused himself and went to find Heimdall as soon as he had eaten and bathed, leaving Loki lounging in the bath.

“I don’t think it’s him,” he said as soon as he saw Heimdall.

“Indeed.”

“I think it might be some kind of monster- or a beast, perhaps a large wolf pack or a bear crazed with disease,” he tried to explain, his words seeming trite and unlikely when facing such a steady, implacable being.

“You are sure it is not your brother?”

“….Mostly,” Thor had to admit, his stomach lurching. “He is not behaving like it is when I speak to him about it. I am used to my brother’s trickery, and this does not seem to fit his patterns.”

“Then I am bound to inform your Father of this creature you suspect may be lurking in his Realm.”

“No! No,” Thor said, lifting his hands up in supplication. “Let us handle this, I’ve been working with him, last night, surely you saw-“

“I could see neither of you,” Heimdall shrugged. “I do not usually pry into your affairs, Thor, and have not done so for many months, but last night I turned my gaze to find you and saw nothing when I attempted. How long have you been shielding yourself from me?”

“I- I haven’t,” Thor frowned. “Perhaps it was my close proximity to Loki.”

“Perhaps.” Heimdall didn’t sound convinced, but it was the only explanation Thor could think of.

“Please,” he continued. “Let me and Loki take care of the beast. We will present it as a trophy to the all-Father when he returns from his trip. It will bring glory to him and to Asgard.”

“He returns in a week,” Heimdall reminded him unnecessarily.

Thor took that as a yes, and nodded his thanks as he left hurriedly to find his brother.

 

Loki had retreated from the bath to Thor’s rooms, and was lounging on the bed, napping. He was still warm from the water, pink and clean and sweet-smelling, and Thor took a moment to look at him silently. So innocent looking. He surely couldn’t be the cause of all this trouble.

Thor got onto the bed next to him, pulling Loki close and smelling the clean scent of his hair. Loki frowned in his sleep, a clouded expression passing over his face before it disappeared, and then he awoke groggily, blinking up at Thor for a few seconds before realising who he was.

 _He looks exhausted,_ Thor thought guiltily. _Perhaps I shouldn’t have woken him._

“What are you doing,” Loki mumbled, twisting in Thor’s arms to face him. It was only when he was sleepy like this that Thor could cuddle him; when he was more awake Loki squirmed and scratched like a cat to escape, hissing and angry. Thor found it simultaneously frustrating and endearing, and could never decide which it was more.

This time, Thor didn’t relent, leaning in to kiss his brother as gently as he dared. Loki sighed against Thor’s lips, relaxing into the kiss and wriggling his body closer against Thor. But when Thor stroked his hand down Loki’s body towards his cock, Loki groaned and shook his head. “Thor, I’m too tired.”

“Last night? I’m sore and tired too,” Thor admitted, removing his hand and kissing Loki again instead. “It’s alright.”

 Loki looked like he wanted to say something, but didn’t, pulling back when Thor tried to push his hair back from his face. Thor could almost see the shutters coming back down after the rare moment of vulnerability, leaving him frustrated at himself for not being able to stop Loki. They lay in silence for a few minutes, Thor feeling the hummingbird flutter of Loki’s pulse against his neck and not wanting to move even an inch in case it broke the moment.

Eventually though, Loki moved anyway, rolling himself away and getting up wearily. “I should be doing something,” he said, seemingly reluctantly.

“You don’t have to.”

“Not all of us are louts,” Loki sighed, stretching with a soft groan. “You go and do whatever it is you do when you’re not following me around.”

He pulled on his clothes silently and left, leaving Thor alone and concerned.

 

Later he caught up with Loki in the library, his brother hunched tiredly over a stack of books with his brow furrowed and dark shadows under his eyes. He closed the book he was reading furtively when Thor arrived, pulling over another one to open seemingly at random.

“Hello,” he said, idly. “Done enough moping around without me?” There was a strain to his voice that Thor couldn’t place.

Thor sat next to him, looking at the pile curiously. “What are you studying this time?”

“Still magic, Thor. Surprisingly enough, one book doesn’t cover everything.” His withering glance over his book made Thor grin a little in the knowledge it was completely meant in affection.

Loki sighed dramatically and waved a hand. “The children’s section is that way, brother. Do feel free to go and find a nice book about a bunny to read. Some of us are busy.”

“You prepared for tonight?”

“If you mean, have I remembered a change of clothes for you this time, then yes.”

“No, I mean- are you ready to start hunting for the animal who’s been killing people?”

Loki looked at him sharply for a long moment, hesitating before speaking. “You’re sure it’s an animal?”

“No,” he shrugged, “but you’re telling me it isn’t you, and if I believe you-which I do-“ he added hastily, “-then it has to be something else.”

“And have you decided if you wish to kill me?”

“I will not kill you, Loki. Even if it was you who did this.” The admission made Thor’s chest release a pressure he hadn’t realised he was still holding on to; it was true, every word, and the realisation of it was almost shocking.

Loki’s mouth twitched strangely; he nodded and lowered his gaze back to his books. “Fine. I’ll be ready tonight if you want to go on a wild goose chase.”

The conversation was clearly over; Thor took the hint and left quietly to visit his friends for a few hours. He’d been neglecting them lately, and they were sure to become suspicious of something soon despite his best attempts at excuses.

 

 

He met Loki at the edge of the forest that night; a few minutes before transformation and with the air just starting to get chilly. They stripped silently, dumping their clothes in Loki’s hiding spot, and walked together into the trees.

Thor was still not used to the agony of transforming; he gritted his teeth and screwed his eyes shut as his body stretched and snapped and reformed, but was unable to bear it silently. Loki, on the other hand, weathered the painful process with silent determination- or was he just too tired to protest? Thor couldn’t tell, too distracted.

The familiar feeling of sudden power and heightened awareness surged through him, and he shook his fur out and stretched, all of the aches and pains from his usual form gone. He glanced to his left and saw Loki there already, his werewolf form betraying none of the tiredness of his earlier self. Loki glanced at him, and they were off; this time methodical and purposeful, skirting the edge of the territory – _my territory,_ Thor and the beast both thought.

They kept their heads low and their attention focused on the night around them as it crept in, the sky darkening to a velvety blue-black that masked Loki’s fur beautifully and did nothing but accentuate Thor’s. The moonlight painted them both silver, dappling as they passed under trees and making them both look like streaks of shadow.

But there was no scent nor sign of any large animal- no tracks, no droppings, and no smell. Thor puzzled over it as they prowled, Loki ever silent beside him. He didn’t relax, though; he was still unsure about how much control he actually had over Loki, and whether his brother was obeying out of trust or deception.

They walked the forest for most of the night, pausing only to eat, Loki getting more and more agitated with each passing hour but staying in his place beside Thor. Thor could practically _feel_ the waves of tension rolling from his brother.

Eventually, they stopped, footsore and disappointed. They had covered almost all of the accessible forest without a single trace of any living creature larger than them. Loki crouched on the balls of his feet, staring distractedly at a rotten log while Thor continued scenting the air fruitlessly. They had come back full circle, almost back to where they began. He was frustrated, pacing the clearing they had stopped in with his brow furrowed and his ears swivelling, straining for any sound.

Eventually, he turned to Loki and tried to shrug, his powerful shoulders rolling. Loki glanced up at him, his eyes clouded, before shaking his own head.

 _We should rest,_ Thor thought as he glanced up to the moon. It was getting late; a few more hours and it would be dawn. Too late to do another circuit. The beast was restless, wanting to hunt more- or fight, or _something_ to relieve the tension.

 _Mate_ , it said unhelpfully, as Loki shifted and his scent filled Thor’s nostrils, heady and strong. He glanced around at his brother, now stood and staring around him into the woods. Thor watched him greedily, the beast urging him on to dominate, to take and mate and claim him again. _Too long,_ it reminded him, and Thor wanted it; wanted to be simple and to just take and give and not to think about everything that was going on. He wanted to be with his brother again, like they had been before this had happened.

He growled, softly, and forced himself to turn away, lowering himself to the ground and trying to get comfortable.

Loki, apparently, had other plans; before Thor was even settled, his eyes just closing, Loki was standing in front of him, his teeth bared in a challenge. Thor’s beast responded in kind and adrenaline surged through his body, his weariness forgotten in the face of Loki choosing this particularly moment to seemingly rebel against Thor’s dominance. They scuffled in the dirt, claws raking skin and teeth biting down viciously, until Thor finally managed to overpower Loki once again, pinning him on his stomach underneath him and biting at the nape of his neck, holding him down.

 _Fuck,_ he thought. He was hard and aching, his cock slick against Loki’s body. Loki clearly noticed; pushing his hips back against Thor, squirming underneath him obscenely, he proceeded to drive Thor to the edge of what he could take and beyond, until Thor was desperate. He pulled himself back and pushed his cock deep into Loki in one stroke, Loki making a strangled noise of pain as the knot stretched him. Dimly, Thor registered that it hadn’t been as difficult as it should have been without preparation, but he was too far gone to care, driving into Loki smoothly again and again until Loki was whining under him and pushing his hips back in rhythm with his brother’s powerful thrusts, his claws digging into the soil and his breathing hard and fast. Thor fucked him ruthlessly, Loki managing to snake one hand between himself and the earth to wrap around his own cock. It didn’t last long, Thor too riled already from Loki’s teasing, and he came with his teeth still gripping the fur of Loki’s neck, growling savagely as he spilled his seed deep inside Loki. Loki came soon after, Thor’s knot still buried deep inside him.

As soon as they could separate, Thor rolled to one side, sated and sleepy. Loki followed, seemingly not wanting Thor to sleep just yet. He kept nudging at him and growling, nipping at his fur relentlessly; Thor couldn’t understand why, and pushed him off and fell asleep anyway, too warm and satisfied to pay his brother much attention.

 

When he awoke, he was himself again and covered in blood, and he was being dragged backwards through the forest by his feet.


	17. Chapter 17

There was a moment of blind confusion where Thor didn’t know what was going on at all, his only view grass in front of his face and the occasional glimpse of trees.

“What-“ Thor managed to ask groggily, kicking his legs to try and free himself as a swell of panic coursed through him, rendering him instantly awake. He scrabbled at the ground, trying to haul himself away, to no avail; whoever had hold of him wasn’t letting go. He kicked out hard, trying to make contact.

“Will you stop _kicking_ ,” a familiar voice said irritably. _Loki?_

“What are you doing?” Thor asked, panting, trying to twist around to see Loki. “Why am I covered in blood? Did I get hurt?”

Loki grimaced and let go of Thor’s legs, seemingly realising that whatever he was doing wasn’t going to go to plan. Thor sat up, rubbing his ankles and looking down at his arms and hands, covered in sticky, drying blood. His chest was splattered too, and his mouth felt coated in the stuff as well.

He couldn’t see any immediate injuries, though, and so his confusion grew even stronger.

“Loki? What-“

Loki didn’t make eye contact with him, instead looking over Thor’s shoulder to a spot a few metres away behind him. Thor followed his gaze with trepidation, unsure as to what Loki was even staring at.

 

There was a corpse in the grass at the edge of the forest, and it was mutilated beyond all recognition.

 

Thor’s eyes swept back to Loki, confused and scared. “Loki…?”

Loki hesitated, looking like he was fighting an internal battle. His eyes were dark and tired, his skin paler than usual, and his hands trembled with exhaustion. “Thor, I-“

“Loki, who did this?” Thor had a feeling he knew the answer already, his stomach lurching sickeningly as he stared between his brother and the blood on his own hands.

“Tell me, brother- please,” he added, desperately, as Loki looked as though he was ready to run.

“It was you, Thor. It was always you.”

“Every single one?”

Loki nodded, his brow creased and his eyes firmly on the ground at Thor’s feet.

“But I thought-“

“You thought it was me,” Loki said softly, finally looking up at Thor.

“I am sorry, Loki,” Thor blurted out, shame spreading through him and tightening his chest. “I am so sorry. I should never have blamed you. I was wrong , I was blinded by other people’s opinions of you and I should have stood at your side-“

“Thor,” Loki said tightly. “Apologies may have to wait.”

“Of course.” Thor turned back to the corpse, tasting blood in his mouth and knowing it wasn’t his own. The thought made him nauseous.  _I killed those people. I blamed my brother, all along, and it was me. I am the monster. I deserve to die. I should die for the safety of Asgard, not him. How could I have been so blind?_

“But Heimdall,” he said suddenly. “How did he not-?”

“Did you not wonder why I studied so long and so hard, brother?” Loki said with a dismissive shrug. “I was learning how to cloak myself to hide what I was doing from Heimdall. I knew he wouldn’t look for you until much later.”

“What you were doing?” Thor thought for a moment and then realised what he had woken up to a few minutes before. “You mean, you dragged me from the bodies so that no one would know it was me?”

“And hid you in the forest where you had fallen asleep, so you wouldn’t know,” Loki admitted.

“But he started prying. I could feel it. So I worked harder, used more magic, tried even more difficult spells, until I could cloak you as well. Even if we weren’t together.”

He looked almost pleased with himself. Thor felt a jolt of anger that he could be enjoying such a time, but then gratitude replaced it as he looked at the sheer tiredness Loki was exuding from head to toe. He had been working hard to keep Thor’s secret. “You protected me.”

Loki shrugged again, his expression unreadable.

“You protected me even when I told you I would kill you.” The shame was overwhelming. His own brother. He had threatened to kill Loki without even a thought to his own blame. “Loki, I-“

“Spare me your sentiment,” Loki sighed, looking worried Thor was about to cry.

“But why didn’t you just tell me? Why didn’t you deny it, - you could have been spared all of this-“

“I denied it, and you didn’t believe me. I admitted to it, and you didn’t kill me. It didn’t even _occur_ to you that it might be you doing it. If you found out it was you, then you would have turned yourself in. I would be taken in too- they wouldn’t distinguish between two monsters just because they were us. I didn’t want to die- and I didn’t want you to, either.”

Thor took a moment to process this information, feeling crushed and unable to breathe under the weight of the knowledge. “I’ve killed people…Loki, I’m a murderer.”

“You’re not a murderer. You were hunting. Hungry.”

“It’s still my responsibility. Those were _people_ , every single one of them.”

“Your guilt won’t bring them back, Thor,” Loki pointed out with a shrug. “All it will do it break you.”

“I need to turn myself in.”

“You wish to sentence us both to death, then?” He seemed genuinely curious, his head tilted to one side and his eyes resigned.

“I-“ _He has an idea._ “What else do you have in mind?”

“One, we make sure you don’t fall asleep when you’re a beast. Two, I learn a spell to bind you if you _do_ fall asleep, so that you can’t hurt anyone or go anywhere. Three, we find some hapless creature to hunt and use as a trophy so Heimdall thinks all is well.” He grinned tightly. “Four, we continue hunting and fucking and fighting as always.”

Thor took a moment to think it over. “It’s wrong.”

“Why? No more people would die, Asgard would be safe, and I don’t have to be sentenced to execution for your crime.”

_He doesn’t deserve to die for me. I almost got him killed once already. He protected me._

“Are you sure you can learn the spell you need?” he asked instead of protesting.

“Thor, I’m currently working a spell that is shielding us both from Heimdall. Right at this moment, I’m using enough magic to bind you three times over. Yes, I’m sure.”

“If I ever did it again, I want you to promise me you would kill me.”

Loki winced and looked away, his eyes narrowed. He said nothing for a long moment, and then his lips twisted into a smirk and he looked back with his expression unreadable. “As if I’d hesitate to kill you, Thor.”

“You’re lying. You _have_ to promise, Loki! Please brother-“

“You won’t kill anyone else,” Loki said flatly, and refused to say any more on the subject.  Thor had to presume that was enough.

“Alright. One chance.”

“We won’t turn again tonight, anyway,” Loki said with smooth confidence, already replacing the mask of calm indifference.

“How do you know?”

“Really, brother? You haven’t even been _tracking_ it?”

Thor felt very stupid, suddenly. He had known it was irregular and frequent and had therefore assumed it might be random. He hadn’t thought to keep records. “No.”

“Well, trust me. I have. We’re safe tonight, which is good- I have studying to do. Now come _on_ before someone finds us standing staring at this poor bastard with blood all over us.”

“Wait.” Something had occurred to Thor. “The first body I found. It had your fur on it.”

Loki shrugged and turned to find the hollow tree, pulling out their clothes. “And? Wait, is _that_ the sole sum of your evidence against me? Really? I’m almost insulted. Thor, you had been fucking me in the woods a few hours before. You were probably covered in my hair _and_ my scent by the time you went wandering for a snack.” He tossed Thor’s clothes at him without a second glance, and set about dressing himself.

For the second time that morning, Thor felt stupid, his hands feeling slow and clumsy, his mind distracted and the stench of blood heavy in the air. He couldn’t look at the body again, knowing he would be sick if he did, the weight of his crimes pressing down on him. _It cannot happen again. If he won’t kill me, I will do it myself if I slip. I must have control._

All this time he had been trying to work on controlling Loki, when it was _him_ who was the real danger. He walked back in silence with Loki, his head low, barely feeling the dew on his bare feet.

 

\--

 

**Hey so I might be AWOL for the next week as I don't know if I'll have internet- will post as soon as I can.**

 


	18. Chapter 18

The palace was still quiet when they arrived, and they managed to slip to the baths and then to the library relatively unnoticed. Loki immediately set about finding a pile of books to help him learn this spell he was thinking of, while Thor paced guiltily, his heart pounding and his stomach leaden.

_How could I have been so stupid? How could I have allowed myself to fall into this, to murder innocents- and worse, to blame my brother?_

Finally, Loki snapped. “Thor, can you _please_ stop pacing, you’re giving me a headache, and quite honestly it’s beginning to make me want to turn you in. Have you _nothing_ you should be doing?”

Thor sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I have so many things I should be doing, Loki. I should be handing myself over to the guards, I should be apologising to our parents, to the families of the people I- I killed.”

“Yes, well I actually meant anything _useful_ ,” Loki drawled. “Because hovering here isn’t helping. Stand still a moment.”

Thor obliged, and Loki glanced once more at his page before flicking a hand towards him and muttering something.

Ethereal green chains appeared around Thor’s wrists and ankles, glowing and swirling and seemingly non corporeal, shimmering with magical energy. “These won’t hold me,” Thor said incredulously.

“Try it.”

He tugged at them curiously, and found them to be solid and strong. Very strong. Even heaving on them as hard as possible didn’t budge them.

Loki looked smug and waved his hand again, dissipating the chains. “You were saying?”

Thor had to grudgingly admit that they were, in fact, good enough to hold him.

“They take a lot of energy, though,” Loki frowned, returning to his studies. “I don’t know how long I can sustain them for without more practice.”

“Well, we have all day,” Thor shrugged. “Practice all you want.”

“I would, if you could stop the pacing and perhaps sit down.”

“I need air.”

“Don’t let me stop you.”

 

Thor left him to it, heading out into the gardens and the sunlight. Of course, with the mood he was in, it didn’t stay sunny for long, grey clouds rolling in almost as soon as he sat down and the gentle rumble of thunder over the horizon heralding the arrival of a storm.

It was pouring down and crashing with thunder before Frigga came to find him. She sat beside him silently, a charm around her that stopped her getting wet.

“What’s wrong?” she asked by way of greeting.

“Nothing.”

“You think I don’t know the look of one of your storms by now?” she chided gently. “There’s something troubling you, Thor.”

“I’ve done something terrible,” he blurted out, seemingly unable to stop the flow of his words any more than he could stop the rain. “I’ve done something- I didn’t mean to- I mean, I didn’t even know I was doing it, and I blamed Loki but it wasn’t him, it was me all along, and I don’t want him to be hurt because of me and it’s all my fault-“ He stopped suddenly, unable to carry on past the almost physical knot in his chest.  “It’s all my fault.”

Frigga nodded to herself and placed a hand on his shoulder. “No matter what it is,” she said carefully, not looking at him, “I know you won’t let it happen again. We all make mistakes, some graver than others, but it is how you move on, how you regain control and prevent it happening again that helps us to grow.” She paused for a moment, hesitating.

“Your father doesn’t know.”

Thor snapped his head towards her. “You do?”

“I know enough to piece together the rest. Loki isn’t the only one with magic.”

Thor groaned and put his head in his hands, anguished. “I’m so sorry- I had no idea that this would happen. I thought- I thought it was Loki, and he was protecting me.”

“I know you believe that Odin would banish- or worse- both of you if he knew.”

“Of course.”

“He may be persuaded that having two vicious, brutal fighting monsters for sons would be beneficial to him in the defence of the Realms.”

“What-“

“If,” she continued sternly, “they were properly leashed and under control. Do you understand me, Thor?”

“…Yes.”

“I will do nothing to help you if anything like this happens again. Do you understand the gravity of your situation? The lives you have destroyed in not telling us sooner? The people you have killed?”

“I understand.”

“Odin has done much more, and much worse, in pursuit of peace for Asgard,” she said more gently. “But I had hoped his sons- my sons- would not follow the same paths.”

“I won’t, Mother.”

Frigga smiled and patted his arm before getting to her feet. “I’ll leave you to your thoughts.”

“Won’t Heimdall see this conversation?”

“My sweet boy,” she almost laughed. “Where in the Realms did you think Loki had the idea to shield himself?”

She left Thor feeling stupid once again, the rain pattering around him but not hitting him, Frigga having left her charm on him without Thor even noticing.

 

Loki was still in the library when Thor returned, his eyes tired and heavy-lidded. He barely glanced up when Thor sat opposite him.

“Loki.”

“Not now.”

“ _Loki.”_

It took a few moments for Loki to acknowledge him, but when he did, he saw Thor’s serious expression and stopped. “What have you done?”

“Mother knows.”

“You _told_ her?”

“She _knew.”_

“I should have thought about that.” Loki got his feet, stretching. “When is our trial?”

“Never, if we learn to control our beasts.” He told Loki what Frigga had said, emphasising the control part until Loki was rolling his eyes in irritation.

“She really thinks she can persuade Odin to allow us to fight like that?” he said finally.

“Why not? It’s no different to berserker warriors,” Thor shrugged. “If we can learn to rein it in, keep a clearer head, then we would be unstoppable.” He was almost excited at the thought, his fighting blood singing in his veins. “Think about it, Loki. Asgard’s army would be feared with us at the fore. You can do simple shifting magic in your beast form, can you not? Imagine what you can do with practice.”

“You’re a little ahead of yourself, brother,” Loki sighed, rubbing his eyes. “First, I need to learn this spell properly. _Then_ we need to learn to obey commands as beasts- if that’s even possible. And we have to hope that Mother can persuade the All-father that having two monsters in his army is a good idea. And what happened to the gnawing guilt?”

“It will never go away,” Thor said, grimacing as his brother’s reminder hit home. “Perhaps I can honour the families of the dead with my service to Asgard.”

“Sentiment,” Loki snarled.

“Perhaps,” Thor agreed. “But it is all I can do for them now.” _A chance at redemption,_ he almost said, but didn’t knowing Loki’s likely reaction to such nonsense.

“Fine,” Loki said at length. “We turn again in four days. Werewolf bootcamp, how delightful.”

Thor didn’t miss the expression on Loki’s face this time; almost hopeful and painfully sweet in its simplicity.


	19. Chapter 19

 

It took almost the whole four days for Loki to master the spell as best he could; he had to work out shortcuts in order to be able to manage that and the shielding spell simultaneously, but eventually he was as happy as could be expected with such short notice and was willing to give it a try in his wolf form. Thor spent the time alternately pacing and training, pushing his body to its physical limits to try and forget the mental turmoil he was going through. Knowing that his mother knew helped a little; the burden shared and lightened, and knowing that his brother was doing everything within his –seemingly limitless- power to help control them both was a comfort also.

However Thor couldn’t shake the uneasiness, no matter how hard he trained or how exhausted he was.

On the evening of the last day, the day they were due to transform, they met in the meadow beside the forest, Loki stuffing clothes into the hollow tree when Thor arrived.

He looked gaunt but less exhausted than he had done for many days; his eyes had lost the dullness and his skin was almost back to its usual colour. He even managed a wry grin as Thor approached.

“Cutting it a little fine, aren’t we?” he asked. Thor shrugged. “I was training.”

“And do you have a plan for us?”

“I do. We need to learn to control ourselves. To obey commands.”

“Who do you expect to lead us into battle?”

“I have fought at the head of armies in great battles already, brother. I _am_ the leader, under my father. And I can control my beast more effectively than you-I have no doubt that you are also admirable, brother, but I have had many more transformations than you and have practiced,” he added when Loki looked like he was about to protest. “I can hold the wolf back, I can understand speech; I will take commands, or give them, at first, and I will guide you.”

“And how will you relay those commands to your army?” Loki sighed impatiently.

“I will have to entrust it to one of my best warriors,” Thor shrugged, having already thought about it himself. “It will not be every battle in which I will be transformed; I will be myself for many, if not most of the great fights. Unless you have a potion you can concoct to make me turn at will?” Thor grinned at Loki, jesting, but Loki frowned to himself quietly, looking thoughtful even as he shrugged.

“Fine, if you have it all worked out,” he said at length. 

“I am sure it will work,” Thor replied with confidence he wasn’t entirely sure he felt. “I can feel it starting, we should move.”

 

-

 

It was an unmitigated disaster at first; Thor knew what it was he wanted well enough, and managed to control the beast almost without fail once they had hunted for an hour and filled their bellies; but he just couldn’t seem to make Loki understand what it was he was communicating to him. Time and time again, Loki swerved to the wrong side or hung back when he should have surged forwards, and they both became frustrated and irritated with themselves and each other to the point where they had to stop and take another hunting break.

That was when it occurred to Thor that he’d been going about it all wrong. Thinking like an Asgardian was one thing, but expecting a beast to do so as well was another. His body responded like the beast it was, and so surely Loki would respond better to cues and signals more natural to the wolf form he was in.

They started again after feeding, and Thor noticed a difference almost immediately. Loki hung beside him on the left, watchful and silent, and Thor allowed the beast to come forward a little; enough to keep control but to allow the natural instincts of this form to work unhindered. Working together with the primitive part of his consciousness was difficult, Thor having to speak to it almost as he would another person, but he grew in confidence as Loki began to understand him, becoming his ever present black shadow, the pack mentality finally, blissfully kicking in as Thor learned to work with snarls and short barks of breath, with raised hackles and bared teeth and flattened ears as much as with glances and gestures, the movements and their meanings clicking into place and becoming coherent the more he worked at it and the more he allowed the beast to have freedom. He knew now that he would always have to be alpha; he could not allow Loki to take control from him without all of his work falling apart and their discipline failing beyond repair.

But as they slipped through the forest in the moonlight, fur shining amongst the trees and the fresh scent of the night in their nostrils, Thor couldn’t help but feel peaceful. One glance to Loki confirmed that his brother felt it too; the synchronicity of their movements and the feeling that their purpose was as one was too right, just like when they had fought together in battle before. This was where he was supposed to be, the night alive to him like it had never been, his whole body thrumming with life and singing out with power.

Exhausted and panting, hours later, they stopped by the edge of the forest as the first rays of dawn began to spread over the meadow.

They were drenched in sweat and blood when they turned back, Loki glowing with a health Thor had rarely seen, both of them breathing hard and aching- but satisfied. The first night had been successful; they had the rudiments down and could begin to build upon them.

“I want to try the spell tonight,” Loki said when he had recovered a little, pulling on his shirt with a grimace at his sweat-sheened body. “Ugh. I’ve never needed a bath more.”

“Are you sure?” Thor asked, squinting into the light to look towards Loki.

“Have to try it sooner or later. Would rather it wasn’t in the heat of a life or death scenario when I try it for the first time, if you don’t mind.”

“Alright,” Thor nodded. “You speak with clarity, as always.” He reached a hand out to cup the back of Loki’s neck affectionately, Loki allowing it and even leaning in a little, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“It’s so nice of you to admit it,” he said sweetly, mischief in his eyes, and then broke away from Thor to continue dressing.

They felt in better spirits than they had in some time as they headed back for a well-deserved bath, the sunlight streaming out behind them and setting their shadows dancing across the grass before them.

 

 

**No excuse, I'm afraid- just not been feeling able to write anything! So have a little non angsty chapter while I seem to have broken the block xD**


	20. Chapter 20

 

The bath was hot and steamy, the room wreathed in mist as they sank into the water. It was almost too hot for Thor, but Loki slipped into it like he was going home, his head back and his eyes closed in bliss. He allowed himself to submerge completely, disappearing under the surface with barely a ripple, and Thor relaxed a little against the side of the baths, sighing in contentment as the aches melted away.

By the time Loki re-emerged, Thor had started to properly relax. Loki leaned against the edge with a noise that was almost a purr, his throat exposed and pale as he tipped his head back, rivulets of water sliding down his pale skin.

Thor was entranced. _How long has it been since it was just us?_ he wondered, and realised it had been weeks- an eternity for them, who had been intimate almost every day since they first realised what it was they craved from each other.

He moved closer, splashing heedlessly towards his brother, too engrossed in his thoughts and incoherent, sudden desire to think further than _Loki-mine, my brother-_

Loki shot him an amused glance that darkened immediately into lust when he saw Thor’s expression, Thor advancing on him with predatory intensity.

Finally Thor had him under his hands, trailing his rough fingers over Loki’s skin, flushed slightly and warm from the bath. He lowered his head to kiss Loki’s collarbone, licking up towards his throat, tasting water and clean skin, the scent Loki always carried with him a familiar undertone even now, spicy and exciting. He pushed Loki back against the bath, pinning him with his body and kissing a path up to his ear, grinning against it and saying softly, “I want you,” one hand curled around the back of his neck possessively.

“Really? I couldn’t tell,” Loki drawled, but he couldn’t hide the shudder of arousal that rolled through him, his hands reaching out to clutch at Thor’s back, blunt nails digging into the skin in a prickling, welcome sensation that made Thor growl against Loki’s neck. Loki arched against him, sliding his cock against Thor’s hip insistently, and Thor pushed a knee between his brother’s legs, holding him still whilst still offering just enough friction to make him whine and buck, his forehead falling against Thor’s shoulder. Thor was hard, too- desperately so, his cock pressed against Loki’s stomach.

He moved to turn Loki away from him, eager to fuck his brother after so long, but Loki clung to him stubbornly. “No.”

“No?” Thor tried to pull back, to check in with his brother, but Loki wouldn’t let him go.

“Not like that,” Loki hissed through gritted teeth against Thor’s shoulder, seemingly almost embarrassed to refuse what he would usually be begging for. “Not-“ he shrugged, and Thor was left at a loss for a long moment before shrugging as well and offering an alternative solution.

“Alright,” he murmured soothingly against Loki’s ear. “Alright, here, let me-“ and he snaked one hand between their bodies, shifting his stance slightly and spreading his legs so that their bodies were aligned, their erections pressed together. He wrapped one huge hand around both of their cocks, and with a pause in case Loki wanted to object, he began a slow, steady rhythm with his hand. Loki instantly relaxed against him, boneless and moaning breathlessly, and Thor smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his neck. “Good boy.” That earned him a sharp intake of breath and a soft groan, and Thor could feel the tension uncoiling in his own body, the sweet, deliciously slow friction of their cocks sliding together completely perfect after weeks of fucking like beasts in the forest. Thor knew he wouldn’t last long like this; not with Loki’s body lean and strong against him, his nails digging hard into Thor’s back and his groans muffled against Thor’s shoulder.

It seemed as though Loki wasn’t going to take long either, his grip tightening and his breathing hard and fast. Thor felt Loki’s eyes squeeze shut, the little flutter of eyelashes on his neck suddenly heartbreakingly endearing; and then he was coming _hard_ , spilling over Thor’s hand and cock, Thor following helplessly seconds later, his own seed hot against his fingers.

They stood breathless for a long, silent moment, Loki holding himself up by sheer will alone, and then he pushed himself back away from Thor, sinking down into the bath once more. Thor lowered himself too, but risked a soft kiss before breaking away totally, pleased when Loki smiled against his lips.

“I missed that,” Thor said with a satisfied grin, glancing at Loki. Loki closed his eyes, stretching luxuriously and sighing. “Sentiment,” he muttered, and then would say no more.

Thor took that as a good sign, and got out of the bath to leave his brother to his thoughts.

 

\--

That night they went to the meadow together, stowing their clothes in comfortable silence and heading off into the treeline as the dusk fell. It was chilly tonight, their breath frosty in the air, and they hurried to find a safe spot to transform in, eager to get it over with and get moving for the night.

They hunted first; the beasts easier to control when sated, and both of them finding it easier to concentrate with stomachs full of hot, bloody meat. A stag fell to their combined attack, and then a pair of young bucks who were too involved in their mock-battle to notice their approach. Still not full, they chased and managed to overcome a large, angry wild goat, crunching the bones with relish and licking them clean before moving on.

 

After an hour or so of the same manoeuvre practice as the night before, and finding it easier, Loki stopped and indicated he wanted Thor to stay still.

 _Must be time for him to practice the spell,_ Thor thought, concerned as to how his brother would handle that on top of the shielding spell he was constantly maintaining for them both. He nodded, holding himself as still as possible to make it easier for Loki, and watched in fascination as tendrils of thick, glowing green smoke began to emanate from Loki’s fingertips, his brother’s face tight and pinched as he concentrated. The tendrils wound around Thor’s wrists, his ankles, and his neck, thickening and looping until they were two, three inches wide, solidifying on some cue from Loki and becoming corporeal.

Finally, Loki nodded, and Thor tested the restraints cautiously, finding them solid and surprisingly heavy. He struggled a little harder, the chains and shackles eerily silent where he would expect clanking, and they held fast.

Loki shrugged and gestured expansively. Thor could almost hear the exasperated _try harder_.

With a guttural roar, Thor strained against the chains with all of the force of his strength, the beast relishing the chance to escape, already unhappy with imprisonment. Nothing. The spell held strong. But Loki was looking pained, his teeth bared and his ears pinned back, and with a final, heaving push, Thor broke through the shackles, watching as they dissipated into smoke and disappeared.

Loki was shivering and panting, looking frustrated with himself and exhausted.

 _So it is possible,_ Thor thought, stretching his muscles, _but it will clearly require work._ He nuzzled into Loki’s shoulder, licking reassuringly.

 _If nothing else, this is working wonders for our relationship,_ he couldn’t help but think, as Loki huffed out a short, foggy breath into the air and leaned against him. _We’re closer than ever._

He set off again into the forest, not needing to look to see that Loki walked beside him perfectly in sync. Time for more practice. It had to be flawless. He had to be perfectly in control; he couldn’t allow any more people to die for his mistakes.


	21. Chapter 21

The night ended well; they were so closely in sync now that Thor barely had to look at Loki to alert him to his intentions, barely had to twitch his ear or bare his teeth before Loki was obeying, anticipating, and understanding each command.

They dressed slowly in the morning, their muscles aching even more than the day before, both of them silent and sore and desperate to get to the baths.

“Good morning.”

They turned, startled, as Frigga appeared behind them, looking immaculate and fresh despite it being only just dawn.

“Good morning,” Thor responded automatically, feeling like his tongue was leaden.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here on any dark errand,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand and a smile. “I wanted to inform you that your father is back in Asgard, and that I intend to discuss the whole matter with him when he wakes later.”

Loki looked wildly at Thor, panic in his eyes, but Thor shushed him and shook his head with a reassuring glance. “Alright, Mother,” he said, nodding and trying to swallow past the lump in his throat. “I think we’re ready.”

“You look exhausted,” she said, mostly to Loki. He looked at the floor awkwardly. “I know about the spells you are using,” she added gently, reaching out to lift Loki’s chin with her fingertips. “I have a gift for you.”

His eyes narrowed in confusion for a moment as she brought a velvet wrapped package from her cloak and handed it over to him. Thor watched in interest as he unwrapped it, almost tentatively as though it may bite him.

Inside was a beautiful necklace; a finely woven gold chain, long enough to tuck under a tunic and hide, with a pendant of a glittering green gemstone that shimmered and gleamed with colour and light under the surface. Even Thor could tell that it had strong magical properties, and he wasn’t even touching it.

Loki almost jolted when he reached a finger out to it, hissing between his teeth and staring at it with dark focus, silent and breathless for a long moment.

“Mother,” he said finally, his voice small and reverent. “This is yours-“

“ _Was_ ,” she said firmly, closing Loki’s hand over the pendant. “I have little use for it now, and your need is great if we are going to make this work for as long as possible.”

“What does it do?” Thor asked, feeling left out and ignorant- Frigga had only ever consciously shared her magic with Loki, hoping it would help him to feel equal to Thor and Odin’s power. Thor had some elemental magic of his own, but it had never been his main focus.

“It is an amplifier,” she explained. “It triples magical output for the wearer- pendants like this but less potent were often given as gifts to young people developing their power. This one was crafted for me as a wedding gift, in the hopes of easing any magical burdens on my body.”

Loki lifted the pendant out, holding it in his hands for a long moment as if feeling the power thrum through him. Eventually Thor took it from him, clasping it around Loki’s neck carefully and with an affectionate kiss to the shoulder that he didn’t think about until he glanced back up and saw Frigga still watching them.

“I- we-“ he stammered helplessly, but Frigga raised her hand. “I’m not asking.” She stepped back and nodded to them both. “I expect to see you both for lunch? I’m sure your father will be pleased to see you.” She turned and walked briskly back across the wet grass while Thor and Loki stared stupidly at each other.

“Well,” Loki said dryly after a moment of silence. “That went better than it could have.”

Thor didn’t answer, setting off in the dewy wake left in the meadow by his mother.

 

They bathed together; both of them too nervous to have sex but unwilling to be too far from the other, staying near each other on one side of the large bathing pools.

They dressed in silence, and languished awkwardly in Thor’s chambers for a while before lunch, unable to start a conversation without it trailing off halfway. Loki fingered his necklace idly as he pretended to read a book, but Thor couldn’t manage to even pretend to be calm, pacing between the bed and the windows with a scowl on his face.

It seemed like an age before a servant came to the door to announce that lunch was ready.

They walked in silence to the dining hall, barely able to look at each other. Thor mulled over everything that could possibly happen, wild scenarios of being imprisoned, executed, exiled and worse reeling through his brain. He wasn’t convinced he didn’t deserve it for the people he had killed.

Frigga and Odin were already seated when they arrived in the hall, talking quietly among themselves. Odin was scowling, but that was hardly unusual, and Loki slid into his usual seat with barely a noise. Thor felt like a lumbering idiot by comparison as he scraped out his chair and thudded down into it, his nerves making him clumsy.

Odin looked up at them both, his face impassive.

“Father,” Thor said respectfully, followed by an echo from Loki. “Mother.”

“Boys,” Odin said, and Thor’s heart sank a little. He only called them boys if he was displeased or about to make a point. Frigga laid her hand on Odin’s arm and he nodded minutely to her.

“Your mother has…explained the situation, somewhat,” he continued, not making eye contact with either of them. “I would ask why you decided to keep such a monumental event to yourselves, but I am becoming increasingly aware of your closeness to each other- to the exclusion of everyone else, it seems.”

Thor felt his face burning, but managed to keep his expression neutral. Loki beside him looked merely amused. Odin finally turned to Thor.

“You were attacked by some sort of creature?” Thor nodded mutely. “And you thought it appropriate to not only say nothing to me, but to return home without taking any precautions? You thought it was acceptable to hide the true nature of the attack, and of your own infection, for _months?_ Even when you caused the death of innocents?” He waited, fixing his gaze onto Thor and raising his eyebrow questioningly. His voice was calm; dangerously so, Thor knew. He thought carefully before replying.

“I thought I could control it, father- I did not think I would _kill_ anyone- I was so careful-“

“Clearly not careful enough!” Odin snapped back, turning his attention to Loki. “And you? I cannot believe you were an innocent bystander in this. You so rarely are.”

“Father-“ Thor interrupted before Loki could speak. “He was, I swear to you. I changed him into a creature like me. He protected me even though I blamed him for the deaths of those people.”

“And I suppose he had no say in the matter, hmm? He was just innocently standing in a forest alone at night when you came upon him and viciously attacked him?”

Loki hid a smirk behind a cough and Thor kicked his leg under the table, feeling heat at the back of his neck.

Finally, Loki took the opportunity to speak, keeping his voice measured and calm where Thor could never have.

“Father, I wished for Thor to make me like him, it is true,” he said with a delicate shrug. “It matters little, as there is no cure. However, think of the _possibilities-“_ Odin tried to cut him off, but Loki kept on speaking smoothly. “-Asgard protected by creatures more fierce and vicious than the biggest berserker. Creatures who can cut swathes through our enemies, who are highly trained, skilled in combat, and completely, unswervingly loyal to you.” Odin paused long enough to allow Thor a moment. “Father, Loki has grown strong in his abilities. He can chain me when I am in the other form. He can do so much more than you realise- and we work together, we can fight _together,_ just like you wanted from us-“

“I did not wish for you to become _monsters_ to be able to work together, Thor!”

“Well perhaps that’s what it took!” Thor roared back, angry that his father was seemingly unable to listen. “We have _never_ been closer than we are now, now that we hunt together. We understand each other, we-“ he groped for the right words and failed, gesturing helplessly while Loki had a sudden coughing fit beside him. “We can fight,” he said lamely after a while. “For Asgard.”

“Your mother has said as much,” Odin sighed with a glance to Frigga. “She says she gave you a pendant, Loki? To help your casting?”

Loki nodded, recovering himself long enough to look solemn. “She did.”

“She believes in you both,” Odin continued. “I have less faith in your abilities- you are arrogant children, spoiled and wild. Perhaps I am to blame for that.” He changed subject abruptly. “Thor, you must make reparations to the families of the deceased. Do not reveal that it was you; Asgard needs to trust its leaders and as my son, you cannot be allowed to be blamed or hated- but you must give them everything they need to be able to survive after the loss of their loved ones, whether that is food, clothing, or shelter. Do you understand?”

Thor nodded, hardly believing his ears.

“I expect you to pay for everything yourself, no matter the cost.”

“Of course.”

“And it remains to be seen whether you can be trusted to fight alongside Asgard’s army,” he continued. “I do not wish for a bloodbath if you are turned loose. You must prove to me that you are more than children turned killing machines.”

Both Thor and Loki nodded as one and the silence stretched out awkwardly between them.

“Leave us, and I’ll have the servants bring you some food,” Odin decided suddenly, dismissing them with a wave of his hand. “I have much to discuss with your mother.”

They left in a stupor, Loki at Thor’s left side automatically now, half a pace behind him and steadily in step with his brother.

 _What just happened?_ He still expected to be called back, for the guards to take him to the prisons, to be banished or worse- but no shout came, no one rushed to restrain him, and they left the hall untouched.

 

 

 

**I've been working non-stop so I apologise for the delay. I've been too exhausted to churn out anything of merit.**


	22. Chapter 22

They reached Thor’s quarters unhindered, Thor shutting the door behind them and then staring at Loki in a stupor.

“What just happened?”

Loki shrugged. “I have no idea- but he didn’t throw either of us out of Asgard, so I assume we’re not in too much trouble.”

Thor sagged in relief, managing a grin at his brother. “You little shit- I heard you trying not to laugh.”

“What can I say? You were talking about how _close_ we are and it was flying so far over our father’s head that it might as well have been a bird. It was amusing.”

“You could have gotten us caught.”

“But I didn’t.” Loki smirked and shoved playfully at Thor, Thor backing up and hitting the bed before falling inelegantly onto it, sprawling and laughing now that his chest wasn’t feeling tight and painful. Loki was on him in a moment, all fluid grace and sinuous muscle, and Thor’s laugh died in his throat as he was suddenly very painfully aware of Loki’s proximity, watching his brother’s narrowed eyes and feral smile. Loki tugged his shirt off carelessly, then pulled at Thor’s until he freed it and tossed it behind him, turning his attention back to Thor’s skin. He ghosted his fingertips across the scars on Thor’s shoulder, his touch suddenly, unpredictable tender and his expression almost soft, before it turned back to pure arousal again, Loki digging his nails into Thor’s chest hard enough to make Thor hiss through his teeth. “Loki-“

“What?” Loki said, irritated, lowering his head to nip at Thor’s neck.

“The door,” Thor managed, suppressing a groan as the knock on the door came again, slightly more insistent.

“Ugh,” Loki sighed, climbing off Thor and taking the tray of food from the servant before dropping it on a table and returning. “There. Now, if there are no more objections?” He unlaced Thor’s breeches and tugged them off, wriggling out of his own before he crawled back up his brother’s body with a determined gleam in his eyes.

“None,” Thor almost moaned, embarrassed at how quickly he was hard and desperate. “Please.”

“Too easy,” Loki tutted, grinding against Thor with their cocks pressed hard against each other. “I was _going_ to make you beg.” Thor bit his tongue to stop himself whimpering. Even in this form he could _smell_ Loki, familiar and exciting and earthy. And he had always loved it when Loki took it upon himself to take control; usually his brother wanted to be indulged and thoroughly fucked instead. Loki chuckled, kissing and biting over Thor’s throat roughly, leaving bruises in his wake that would be hard to explain later. Thor titled his head back for his brother, his hands grabbing at any inch of Loki that he could, fingertips digging in hard enough to mark, blunt nails dragging up Loki’s back and making him shudder and arch luxuriously.

Eventually Loki leaned back, groping for the bottle of oil Thor kept beside the bed, and Thor tried to turn over, eager to just be _fucked_ and allow himself to drown in sensation after a stressful morning he wanted to forget. Loki stopped him. “Not that way,” he said imperiously, and after a moment where Thor wondered what he meant, he sighed and pressed his hand down on Thor’s stomach, pinning him on his back on the bed. “Like that, you oaf,” he clarified with a roll of his eyes. “You’re rather dull.”

Thor felt a shudder run through him, grinning up at Loki with new arousal pooling in him. “Brother-“

Loki favoured him with a smile that was part amused, part fond. “Now, hush before I feel sentimental. Spread your legs for your brother.” Thor obeyed, watching through a haze of lust as Loki leaned back on his knees, slicking his cock with the spicy-smelling oil slowly and clearly to torment Thor. When his fingers pressed into Thor’s entrance, Thor had to bite back a whine that was far too mortifying to allow, instead settling for a deep breath and fisting his hands into the sheets tightly. Loki prepared him _agonisingly_ slowly, far more thoroughly than Thor had ever needed, and before he was done Thor was bucking his hips and groaning, cursing with every few breaths and pleading with the others. Loki seemed well satisfied with this, merely smiling when Thor begged him to just _fuck him already_.

“I felt you needed a lesson,” he said eventually when Thor was almost in tears, his cock achingly hard against his stomach. “You may be Alpha as a beast, but I am your equal. Only _I_ do this to you, only I can make you beg and cry and come so hard you almost pass out. You’re mine.”

“Yes,” Thor groaned from between gritted teeth. “Yes, brother-yours,“ _Please, damn you,_ he thought. _You know as well as I do that you will always be the only one I want._

“Good,” Loki said brightly. He removed his fingers, dug his nails into Thor’s hips, and dragged him down the bed, his muscles taut and his breath hitching as he pushed himself into his brother’s body in one long, smooth thrust, burying himself completely inside Thor. Thor arched his back, reaching out for Loki, wrapping his arms around him and pulling them together as Loki began to thrust languidly; deep, slow strokes that drove Thor mad with need and frustration.

“Loki please,” he ground out finally, and Loki actually _laughed._

“That’s more like it,” he said, and began to slam into Thor brutally, his teeth bared savagely and his nails leaving welts on Thor’s skin. Thor groaned in relief and sudden, overwhelming pleasure, his body greedy in its desperation to take in every sensation, every slide of skin against skin, each breath and shudder and thrust from Loki as he fucked him mercilessly, the friction on Thor’s cock blissful and agonising all at once, trapped between their bodies hot and hard. It didn’t take long before Loki’s hips were stuttering, his breathing harsh and hitching, and he pulled back enough to wrap one hand around Thor’s cock, thrusting into him a few more times before spilling his seed deep inside his brother. Thor followed with a wordless howl of pleasure, white-hot and blinding, his whole body trembling with the force of his orgasm.

When he came back to himself, Loki was rolled onto his side next to him, looking unbearably smug.

“Oh, don’t give me that face,” Thor mumbled, shoving a pillow at his brother and closing his eyes.

“Don’t sleep,” Loki said, irritatingly awake. “There’s food to eat.”

“Oh, now you’re interested in the food.”

 

**It's short and it's porn but at least it's here- work is stressing me out right now, Mockingjay was released, eep. Thanks!**


	23. Chapter 23

 

The next morning, Thor kept his promise and spent three hours visiting the families of the people he had killed. He took with him everything his father had ordered and more, knowing it could in no way make up for the loss of their loved ones but wanting to ease as many burdens as possible.

He sat with the families and said nothing through their gratitude and tears, their disbelief that the All-Father’s own _son_ would visit them like this. His chest was tight and painful, his guilt heavy on him like a bear on his chest. But he did his duty to the best of his ability, and made arrangements for money to be provided monthly to each family for the duration of their lives.

When it was done and he could escape, he went to Loki’s rooms without preamble, curling himself into a chair near Loki’s desk and sighing heavily. Loki glanced up from his studies and immediately grimaced.

“That bad?”

“I’m a monster.”

“They will survive,” Loki shrugged. “You’ve seen to that and more.”

“That isn’t the point.”

“I know.” Loki gave him a sympathetic look and then went back to his book. After a long few minutes of relatively comfortable silence, Thor stretched out and asked, “What’s that?”

“A book, Thor,” Loki said, his lip curling in amusement as he gave Thor a sideways glance. “Large things, full of writing. Some have pictures, which I hear you are fond of.”

“You’re an ass, Loki.”

“I try my hardest. I’m working out the best way to be able to maintain the shackle spell on you- I mean, I don’t have to cloak us as well now, so it’s relatively easy; however there’s the small problem of managing to hold it when I’m in the wolf form myself, which was a little tricky.”

He paused, and then shrugged. “But I have the pendant, and I think I can do it. Which is convenient, because Father wants us in the training yard in half an hour.”

“For what?”

Loki shrugged carelessly. “To berate us further I assume.”

Thor groaned and leaned back in the chair. “He can’t mean for us to train as the beasts. It’s not time and I don’t think we transform tonight.”

“Your lack of accuracy actually pains me,” Loki sighed, glancing at a journal beside him. “We do not transform for another two days.”

Thor grinned despite himself. “I don’t need accuracy, brother. I have you.”

Loki rolled his eyes.

 

-

 

Odin gave them a cursory nod when they arrived, before launching straight into business. “I need to know if you can truly work together.” He frowned. “You used to find it impossible to fight- you could not anticipate Loki’s magic, Thor, and you Loki, you could not withstand Thor’s power with Mjolnir.” He shrugged impassively. “Both of you are skilled warriors in your own right- this is not about favouritism. But if you truly think you can be trusted to fight at the head of an army- as mindless, savage beasts, no less- then I need to know you can at least work together in your own forms.”

He stepped back. “Spar. Hold nothing back.”

“You want us to _try_ and hurt each other?” Thor burst out incredulously.

“If you are truly as in sync as you suggested to me, then you will not,” Odin replied grimly. “Continue.”

Thor looked at Loki and realised with frustration that Loki had anticipated this, his hands already glowing with green light. He lifted Mjolnir and tried a hesitant swing at his brother. It was easily avoided and Loki scowled at him, sending a flash of harmless green fire at his face. Thor tried again, and they moved awkwardly around each other without even getting close to dangerous.

 

“No,” Odin ordered after a few minutes. “You are proving _nothing._ Try to kill each other. Loki, _hurt him._ Thor, use the hammer you were deemed worthy enough to wield!”

Still Thor hesitated, staring dumbly at Loki with his weapon loose at his side. “But-“ he started, but was halted by Loki sending a spike of ice hard into his side, winding him. “Ah-!”

He looked up to find Loki shaping another hard spike, his expression unreadable and his eyes dark and narrowed in concentration. He sent it flying at Thor, who swept it aside with Mjolnir, and then the fight really began, Thor launching himself at Loki in silence. Mjolnir thudded again and again as it hit Loki’s magical defences, Loki muttering spells to himself  to protect his body while shaping magical runes in his hands, whirling and aiming chunks of ice as big as Thor’s head, grunting in annoyance as they shattered on the hammer and showered down above them both. Thor called lightning, sent it flickering and crackling across Loki, who dispelled it with ease. Eventually, imperceptibly, it became a dance; both of them anticipating the other’s movements and attacks a second before they came, each dodge and each counterattack seeming more natural, more choreographed than the last until they were turning and twisting around each other without a single blow ever landing on the other.

 

“Enough,” Odin called after a long spell in which neither had landed a hit to the other despite them both throwing everything they had at each other. They stopped as one, panting and filthy but unhurt. Odin allowed them a small nod. “I see.”

Loki shot a triumphant glance at Thor, who ignored it in favour of watching their father carefully.

The All-Father ran a hand over his face, looking tired, and then spoke again. “And you say you can work like that as…beasts?”

“Better,” Loki said immediately, his breathing already almost normal again. “We don’t need to fight against each other to fight together. It’s easier.” There was a note of pride in his voice that Thor was sure Odin would shoot down, but instead he smiled a little, no more than a twitch of his lips. “I believe Frigga understands you better than I ever will, Loki,” he said surprisingly gently, “and for that, I am grateful. She believes you have more control over your magic than she has on her own. Is she correct?”

There was a moment of hesitation before Loki nodded, his chin high and defiant.

“I truly hope so, if the spell she told me you had learned is all that stands between Thor and destruction.”

Suddenly, he waved a hand dismissively. “Away with you both, boys. When is your next…transformation?”

“Two days,” Thor said, ignoring the snort of laughter Loki gave him at his confident answer.

“I expect to see you both before dusk then,” Odin nodded. “Go.”

They went in silence, barely even looking at each other until they reached the bathing pools. Loki threw off his clothes and managed a passable impression of Thor, puffing up his chest and swaggering. “Two days, Father! Of course, I, Thor, _always_ know when I will transform because I keep a _thorough_ journal of such-“

Thor shoved him into the water, sending him spluttering and splashing under the surface for a second while Thor laughed and undressed before joining him. “Shut up for _once,_ Loki.”


	24. Chapter 24

Two days passed in relative peace, both of them enjoying the freedom given to them now that they weren’t having to hide and shield themselves from Heimdall and Odin at all times. They lounged in each other’s quarters, Loki reading and Thor spending long hours laboriously drafting letters to the families of the victims to be sent with more money. When those were done, he had Loki spar with him, bare-fisted, trying to work out a way past Loki’s easy, fluid grace and solid defence. Loki tolerated this with amusement almost bordering on enjoyment, enjoying the contact if nothing else.

They often ended sweaty-limbed and sprawling on the bed, tangled together in satisfied exhaustion that soon turned to arousal. It was a relief to be able to indulge in each other’s bodies without hurry or distraction.

All too soon, however, the days passed, and an hour before dusk they reported to Odin at the edge of the meadow. Frigga was there as well, and she had a wrapped package in her arms and a secretive smile on her face.

They greeted their parents warily, Thor already feeling the prickling underneath his skin and the restless, wandering feeling in his bones that signalled the change was near.

“Today,” Odin said after a short pause, “I will be determining if you can both be trusted- to fight together, and to know friend from foe.” He glanced at Frigga, who unwrapped the package carefully. Inside it were two finely crafted leather bands, made of thick strands of leather woven together in a braid. She handed a red one to Thor and a green one to Loki, and Loki stared at it incredulously.

“A _collar?”_

“Don’t be ridiculous, Loki,” Frigga chided. “It’s a bracelet.”

Thor was already lacing his around his wrist, testing the knot. He was bewildered but not unduly worried; Frigga would never do anything to harm him, and he didn’t see how a little bracelet would make a difference anyway. But Loki was staring at his, his eyebrows knotted together and his eyes narrowed, and Thor felt a stirring of unease.

“Mother?” he asked, glancing back to her. “What are these?”

It was Odin who answered. “I charged your mother with finding the best enchanters possible,” he said cagily. “The bracelets are magical.”

“What do they _do?_ ” Thor insisted.

“If you turn on each other, or on us,” Odin continued, “They will activate and cause you to become incapacitated.”

Loki looked disgusted. “They’re shock collars for bad dogs,” he muttered. He put it on anyway, tying the laces with an angry jerk.

Thor stared at his wrist in dawning understanding. “They’ll hurt us enough to make us turn _back?”_ From Thor’s limited research so far, nothing except excruciating agony- or death- would do that.

“They will not kill you,” Odin sighed, clearly not wanting to discuss this further. “It’s merely insurance.” He grimaced, waving a hand in irritation. “Stop behaving like children.” Thor turned to Frigga, who had the good grace to look apologetic and worried. “You agreed with him?” She shook her head minutely, not a disagreement but a warning. “Don’t,” she murmured, and he frowned at her in annoyance before sighing heavily. He could feel the change beginning, could feel the prickling of fur ready to push through  his skin and his bones aching as they prepared to stretch and split. He stepped back, glancing at Loki who was looking similarly uncomfortable. “It’s happening,” Thor ground out. “We have to-“ Odin and Frigga turned slightly as they both undressed quickly, hiding their clothes in the usual spot just in time. “We’ll need to hunt, first,” Thor warned Odin with the last calmness he possessed.

The change was as painful as ever; months of dealing with it had yet to make it any easier to bear, Thor screaming until his throat was hoarse as his bones reshaped and cracked, his skull lengthening and narrowing. He heard Loki doing the same beside him, and felt a remote sympathy for him even as his own agony continued.

Finally, it was done, and they lay panting on the grass, deep, shuddering breaths that took a while to ease. He could smell Odin and Frigga; they smelled like _prey_ , Odin rich and deep and earthy with an almost musky scent underneath, and Frigga spicy and fragrant like the meadow around her, with a darkness to her that could only be her magic, lending the air around her a green tint like it did with Loki’s smell. His mouth watered at the scent of them, so close and intoxicating, and he stood to his full height, towering over them both on powerful legs. Beside him, he heard and smelled Loki, moving close at his left side and nuzzling his shoulder in a gesture both affectionate and warning.

 _Do not attack these ones,_ Thor told his beast- and himself- firmly, ignoring the saliva and the smell and turning to Loki with a growl. _Hunt._ They loped off into the forest, shoulder to shoulder, leaving Frigga and Odin waiting at the edge of the treeline.

The hunting was easy tonight; the air was still mild and warm enough that many creatures were caught unawares, late in returning to burrows and dens and safety. Thor and Loki gorged themselves, working together to bring down a large male bear simply for the thrill of it and feasting ravenously on the hot flesh as though they had not eaten in months. Their work was paying off; Thor knew where Loki was at all times, could feel it inside himself as though Loki was telling him in words even when his brother was out of sight. He only had to make eye contact with Loki to know what he needed, what he wanted, and their movements were eerily, unfailingly synchronised as they brought down their quarry.

When they had eaten as much as they could, their stomachs painful and round, they set off back towards the edge of the forest, Thor’s beast reticent to leave the cover of the trees and wary at returning to the scent of human that lingered there. They found Odin alone, Frigga having disappeared, presumably back to the palace.

 _Kill-_ was Thor’s first instinct, his hackles rising. He forced it back, forced his muscles to relax and his snarl to quieten, and felt Loki at his side doing the same. The bracelet felt warm and heavy on his wrist, somehow still the right size- if a little ridiculous looking on his muscular, furred arm. He scented Odin warily, Thor repeating in his mind _Father, Odin, the All-Father,_ to try and familiarise the scent with the person he knew in his own form. When he felt it was safe enough, he dropped to all fours to look less intimidating and moved forward, Loki with him. They stopped in front of Odin silently, regarding him. Thor caught the scent of fear; acrid and rank, and coming from his father. It satisfied him on some primal level and distressed him on another. Loki appeared to have no such conflict, his mouth open in what was clearly a grin. Thor growled low in his throat at him, warning. Loki merely rolled his burning green eyes and continued to grin.

“Well,” Odin said after a long pause. “It appears you have _some_ control, then.” Loki bared his teeth casually, just a brief glimpse before he shut his mouth, and Odin’s gaze flicked to them for a split second. “Come with me.”

He turned, appearing to have no concerns about leaving his back exposed to them both, and began to walk across the meadow deliberately and sedately. Thor and Loki moved as one to follow him, keeping pace easily even on all fours. _I wonder where we are going,_ Thor thought, scenting the air as they travelled. _Surely not to the palace?_

But Odin veered off, towards the Bifrost and towards- Heimdall? Thor was puzzled. What would they want with Heimdall?

The unusual trio arrived to find Heimdall waiting for them, his face grim and grave as he greeted Odin. Thor got no scent of fear from him at all- not even a shadow of doubt passed over his features as he glanced at them both, Thor understanding that he _knew_ them both just as plain as if they had been naked before him. Heimdall stepped aside as Odin moved forward again, a curt “You know what to do,” Odin’s only words. Thor and Loki followed, ears pinned back warily as the Bifrost began to hum  and whirl, opening the gate to- what, exactly? Where was Odin taking them?


	25. Chapter 25

 

They arrived dizzy and disorientated in the middle of a battle- more of a skirmish, really, two smaller units engaged in a frantic, harried fight in a barren, black land gouged by rivers of flaming lava. Thor recognised one of the sides as Asgardian troops mostly by the scent of them; the other looked to be some kind of lesser fire demons, clearly stragglers or survivors of a larger group as they were disorganized and desperate. _Muspelheim?_ Thor wondered. The air stank of soot and smoke and fire, and Thor wrinkled his muzzle, narrowing his eyes at the visceral stench of it. Beside him, Loki gagged, shaking himself as though trying to clean his fur of the smell itself. They got to their feet slowly, blinking to clear the dizziness, and looked to Odin for an explanation. He merely crossed his arms and nodded towards the fighting.

 _He means for us to fight?_ It seemed obvious now that he was thinking it; of course Odin would want to test them in battle- and a battle which did not decide the fate of their entire Realm was probably the most sensible way to start. This fight would have been beneath him in his usual form, a mere scrap not worth his attention, but he saw the wisdom in Odin’s thinking and turned his attention to the action, feeling the battle-blood begin to surge through him, his heart pounding and his hackles raising instinctively. He snarled, curling his massive hands into fists at his sides and feeling the power thrum through him like the beat of a war drum. He was made to fight; he was the perfect killing machine in this body and in his own, it made no difference. His weapons were his teeth and his claws, the beast’s own instinct and savagery a counterpoint to his intelligence and his years of battle training, and he was _desperate_ to throw himself into the midst of a battle, small though it was.

But he hesitated; glancing to Loki to see if he was ready. Loki preferred to fight with magic, and although Thor knew he had been practicing using simple spells in the wolf form, he didn’t know how proficient his brother was- or how ready he was to just dive right in to the middle of a battle he didn’t have a stake in. But Loki was focused, his eyes narrowed and his teeth bared in a snarl. His claws weaved a pattern in the air that Thor sensed as a green tinted swirl, the smell of magic faint but unmistakable. Good. With Loki at his left and the beast taking control of his senses, Thor lowered his head and lunged forward, his blood singing in the familiar battlecry that he could no longer distinguish between himself and the wolf.

Demons parted before him like a wave as he plunged into the fray. He tossed them aside like ragdolls, his massive arms rending enemies in two with one sharp heave, his teeth ripping the life from their veins until he was covered in blood and soot, the stink of the place heavy on him and in his nostrils. He could only just about scent Loki, though he could clearly see him, ranging far and wide through the fighting and seemingly using a brilliant mixture of short range spells and illusions together with his powerful teeth and claws; he was felling demons at a rapid, precise rate, much more efficient than Thor’s all out brute force. Thor ducked as a bolt of green energy flew above his head, turning to watch the fire demon behind him fall to the ground. He glanced back at Loki to see the black beast giving him a look that was clearly _pay attention_ , and ducked his head in thanks before turning to the fight once more. They had no need of sound here; they had worked enough at this to know where the other was at all times through smell and pure feeling, and it came as no surprise to Thor that he immediately knew when Loki became overwhelmed by a group of demons who had cornered him against a river of lava. He barely thought about it before he sprang to help, grabbing a demon and wrenching it apart before twisting to bite another’s neck clean through, grimacing at the ashy, smoky taste of the thing as it crumbled to dust in his teeth. Loki dispatched the last two and gave him a brief glance before turning to cast another spell, his ears flat against his head and his eyes burning. He looked glorious, and Thor felt the stirring of his cock- or the beast’s, the difference seeming irrelevant at this point. He growled, shaking himself and returning to his own fight.

It was over relatively quickly, with minimal loss to the Asgardian forces- who, to their credit, had taken the arrival of two massive wolves on two legs rather in their stride once they realised they weren’t being attacked. Thor and Loki were bleeding from several shallow wounds, but were otherwise unharmed, covered in ash and blood and panting heavily. Thor was still thrumming with energy that needed to be spent, and was impatient to return to Asgard, the scent of his brother too intoxicating, arousing him beyond his ability to cope for much longer. He could smell that Loki, too, was aroused, which only made it worse. Added to that was the overpowering scent of blood on the Asgardian soldiers both dead and alive, making his mouth water and the beast itch to feed. It was taking all of Thor’s will to remain where he was, violently pushing back on the beast, forcing its instincts down so that he could take control again. He was trembling from the effort, Loki stood close beside him as if to steady him even though it must be affecting him as well. _I cannot lose control again,_ he thought desperately. _I would sentence us both to death if I hurt anyone else._ But it was too much, and Thor felt the beast tensing, readying itself to attack the wounded soldiers as they lined up to return home. He could practically taste the meat – _The man, it’s a person, just like me,_ he tried to remember. He could almost feel the bones crunching under his teeth-

 As if understanding him, Loki leaned his body against Thor’s, grounding him back to himself and muttering a low growl that went unnoticed by anyone else.

 _When did he get so protective,_ Thor thought vaguely. _Or is it because I’ve finally let him?_ He felt guilty; he had always assumed that Loki was the one to need protection, because he was smaller and less willing to pick up a sword. But Loki was as true and worthy a warrior as Thor himself; capable and sure, not weak as Thor had imagined as boys. Perhaps if Thor had not dismissed his magic so readily, Loki would always have been this close to him, so ready to protect _him_. He would apologise later.

Finally, Odin moved towards them, having finished speaking to the soldiers, and the Bifrost returned them all home, Thor reeling like a drunk as they arrived back in Asgard. It apparently took more toll on the beast than it usually did on his own body. Frigga waited for them on the bridge, reaching out a hand fearlessly to touch her sons on the arm as high as she could reach. “Well done,” she whispered fiercely to them both, her eyes shining and bright. Then she stepped back to allow Odin to address them.

Odin, however, just grunted and scratched his beard, unwilling to give too much away. Finally, he sighed and spread his hands. “You did not fail me.”

Thor gave him a look that was meant to convey frustration. Loki merely rolled his eyes and huffed out a breath. Odin ignored both, but could not ignore Frigga’s raised eyebrow and pointed look.

“Fine. You have done well,” he admitted after a pause. “Both of you. I was…perhaps wrong to doubt you.” He hesitated and then nodded, decisively, almost smiling. “Go on now, it’s almost dawn. You should rest and tend your wounds. I will speak to you both when you are yourselves again.” He and Frigga left arm in arm, leaving Thor and Loki to stare at each other.

 _Mate,_ the beast supplied helpfully, and Thor growled, his arousal resurfacing now that the nausea was passed. Loki merely blinked at him sedately and turned away, loping off across the bridge towards the palace and seemingly unconcerned about anyone seeing them. Thor supposed that was fair; after all, they would only tell Odin and it wasn’t like the All-Father didn’t know who they were. Loki was _beautiful_ even covered in soot and ash, his muscles rippling under his skin. Thor could not help but follow, only the familiar, exciting scent of Loki’s own arousal giving him any clue that that was what his brother wanted him to do. As for Thor, the battle fever was starting to seep out of him, finally, leaving a restless, yearning need to _fuck_ that was familiar to both him and the beast. His cock was already half hard before they reached the palace itself, the dawn just beginning to light the sky.


	26. Chapter 26

 

It only occurred to him as he reached his quarters that they had left their clothing at the edge of the forest. He couldn’t find it in him to care, the enticing scent of Loki drawing him on like a delicious trail. Loki was already in his room, still in his beast form and sprawled somewhat awkwardly on the bed that was a little too small for his huge wolf body. His cock was hard against his stomach, a pale contrast to his black fur, and Thor snarled to see Loki’s claws wrapped around it, his own cock responding to such a debauched sight. Loki huffed out a short breath but had no time for anything else as Thor lunged at him, across the room in a blur and pinning him to the bed with his jaws lightly grazing Loki’s throat. He could feel their cocks sliding together, the friction delicious but not enough, and without preamble he grabbed at Loki’s hips, dragging him down and aligning him so that Thor could force his cock inside his brother. Loki howled and dug his claws into Thor’s back viciously in retaliation, Thor smelling blood welling from the scratches in pinpricks of white hot pain. He thrust in all the more savagely, slamming into his brother again and again, the beast taking over almost entirely. Thor noted dimly that Loki had not been as tight as he should have been without preparation and wondered if that had been what he was doing already on the bed waiting for him, but the beast didn’t much care, brutally thrusting into Loki and tightening his jaws on the black wolf’s throat as Loki arched and bucked under him.

It didn’t last long, both of them still exhilarated from battle and with their blood singing through their veins. Thor came first, howling against Loki’s throat and biting down hard as his hot seed spilled inside his brother, his knot thickening deep inside Loki. Loki whined in frustration, bucking his hips up insistently, and Thor snaked a clawed hand between them to roughly wrap around Loki’s cock. A few quick strokes was all it took to have Loki shuddering underneath him, snarling and digging his teeth into Thor’s shoulder.

 

The change came not long after; the glow of their orgasm giving way to wrenching pain as their bodies returned to their usual form, bones creaking back into place and fur withdrawing with a maddening itch under the skin. Finally, it was over, and they lay on the bed in sweat-drenched exhaustion, groaning softly.

“I don’t know whether I’m hurting because of the fucking or because of the changing,” Loki said after a long moment of silence. Thor grunted, turning onto his side to face Loki.

“I see you’re as verbose as ever,” Loki sighed, reaching out to splay a hand through Thor’s hair and then grimacing. “Ugh, you smell like wet dog.”

Thor got to his feet shakily, stretching, and only then noticed the bottle of oil on the floor beside the bed. Clearly Loki _had_ been busy while waiting for him.

“Bath,” he rasped, wincing at the sound of his own voice.

“Don’t order me around,” Loki said agreeably as he got up as well. “Let’s have a bath.”

 

The bathing pool was hot and steaming, Thor feeling his muscles uncurl as soon as he slipped into the water. “Ah, fuck,” he muttered, stretching out in the hot bath and rumbling in his throat happily. Loki stepped in much more delicately, first a toe, then a foot, and then finally sliding his lean body in beside his brother, humming under his breath. “Good.”

Thor eyed Loki, his brother beautiful as always; pale skin, eyelashes longer than they had any right to be, his hair a startling black against his face. He wondered how it could be that he had thought Loki obstinate, uncaring- how he had been so frustrated with Loki for so long. All they had needed was to work together- the fucking and the fighting hadn’t been enough. He opened his mouth to say something, to apologise for his lack of empathy in the past, but Loki sighed loudly, barely opening one eye to peer at him.

“If you say one word I will drown you.”

“But-“

“There we go.” Loki waved his hands, a sweeping gesture that churned up the water magically into a wave that crashed down onto Thor’s unsuspecting head, leaving him gasping and spluttering when he came up for air. “You little shit-“ Thor coughed, grabbing at Loki and pushing him under the water. Loki came up laughing, and then Thor was laughing too, and it was like when they were boys for a long, golden moment, fighting and playing together as if there was nothing else in the world.

 

Finally they stopped, realising they were dangerously close to actually flooding the room, drowning the towels, and making the servants lives miserable, and lay back against the side of the pool, panting and grinning. Loki looked unbearably smug, his face flushed and his eyes sparkling with mischief, and Thor loved him fiercely, burning bright hot with it. He reached out to close the gap between them, drawing Loki close to him and cupping the back of his neck with one large hand, his thumb brushing over Loki’s ear. So soft, Loki was; amazing he could cut deep as glass when he wanted. Loki arched an eyebrow at him but said nothing, his eyes automatically half closing at the familiar, comforting contact. There was a moment of charged silence between them, the air crackling and heavy, and then Thor was kissing him, almost chastely at first, unsure as to whether Loki would allow it- they didn’t usually _kiss_ despite how often they fucked, Loki seemingly uncomfortable with the intimacy of it and Thor unwilling to force the issue. But Loki sighed into the kiss, wriggling closer and looping his arms around Thor’s neck, and Thor wrapped his free hand around the small of Loki’s back, pulling him even closer.

 

It was Loki who deepened the kiss finally, his wicked tongue insistent and relentless in undoing Thor until he was groaning, hard, and desperate, pouring all his years of wanting into the kiss. Loki was hard too; Thor could feel his cock pressed against his thigh, and so he shifted slightly, aligning their cocks and dropping the hand from Loki’s back to wrap around them both, stroking them together languidly as they kissed. Loki hissed through his teeth, tightening his arms around Thor’s neck so he was almost lifted from the bottom of the bath, clinging to his brother like he was drowning, and Thor was lost in sensation; warmth and delicious friction and Loki’s breath on his face, his weight heavy against Thor’s chest and the fluttering of his heartbeat like a hummingbird. He took his time; slow, firm strokes of his hand, their cocks sliding together, until Loki was arching and whining into the kiss and Thor was breathless with need, their heartbeats feeling almost synchronised.

When he couldn’t take any more, Thor sped up, his  hand deft and sure, and that was it; they were coming together, white and blinding and almost painful, breaking the kiss just so they could breathe, and he could hear Loki’s gasping laugh as he sagged against him, clinging to his shoulders and shuddering deep through his body.

“We should kiss more often,” Loki said into his neck. Thor grunted, moving them so he could lean against the side of the bath, his legs unsure and shaky.

“I’ve been trying,” he said finally when he was comfortable. “You did not like it.”

“Mmm,” Loki said, non-committal.

“Loki,” Thor began, and Loki flashed him a warning look. But Thor ignored him, pushing on because he needed to say it.

“Loki,” he tried again, firmly. “You do know that I love you?”

Loki grimaced. “You have to ruin a good orgasm _somehow,_ don’t you.”

“I have not always treated you justly,” Thor ploughed on. “I am truly sorry for that, brother.” He hesitated. “I have loved you from the moment I saw you. I could not know that such innocent love could become what we have now, but-“

Loki glared at him, but Thor could see fear in his eyes. Fear of what? Was he saying something wrong? Did Loki not love him? He had taken it for granted that Loki loved him as Thor loved Loki. Perhaps he had been wrong, all this time.

“-but,” he continued, his heart sinking, “I have always been yours, Loki.”

There was silence for a long, painful moment, Loki looking uncomfortable and fidgety. Thor couldn’t breathe, wondering if he had just said something incredibly stupid, something that would break the spell they had over them recently, the illusion of happiness he had been beginning to trust.

“Fine,” Loki sighed finally.

“Fine?”

“You great oaf. I  had hoped we could get through our whole lives without such disgusting sentimentality, but apparently you lose the ability to filter your mouth post-orgasm.” He paused, looked disgusted like a cat that had just coughed up a hairball, and then continued. “I love you too. Alright? Is that what you want? To hear that I love you just as ridiculously as you do me? That I would quite happily die for you?”

“I want the truth,” Thor said, baffled, the hope in his chest mingling with a bright spot of fear.

“That _is_ the truth, you witless great beast,” Loki ground out. “Can we forget we had this conversation now?” He forced himself to make eye contact with Thor, and Thor could see no lie in his eyes. He grinned, wide and guileless. “You do?”

Loki swore and ducked his head under the water, effectively ending the conversation. Thor just grinned to himself, his whole body feeling warm and light, as though a huge weight had been lifted that he hadn’t been aware he was carrying. Loki loved him.


	27. Chapter 27

After that, things were simple; well, relatively.

They met with Odin and Frigga, who took the bracelets from them somewhat awkwardly, Odin unable to meet their eyes.

“I am sorry I did not trust you,” he muttered as he handed them to Frigga. With a wave of her hand, they disintegrated into gold dust which she brushed from her palms briskly. “I will not make the same mistake twice.” He paused, and then sighed. “You,” he said, directed to Thor, “Have become a much wiser man than I had thought. I assumed you a child still, albeit a grown one. You proved me wrong with the determination, honour and care you have shown in this. I am proud to be your father and you will make a fine King, some day.”

Thor glowed inside but remained stoic; Odin did not enjoy scenes.

“Loki,” he continued. “My son.” He stopped as if attempting to find the words. Loki looked disappointed, his stance shifting subtly to nonchalance hiding inevitable pain.

“You and I do not often see eye to eye,” he managed finally. “You are more like Frigga than you are me; and I took that as a personal injury, I fear. Your ability is truly remarkable, Loki; I have watched it grow in the mere days since that pendant was given to you and I trust that you will continue your studies. As such, I have made the restricted areas in the library accessible to you. Frigga will help you with anything you require.” Loki looked surprised and pleased; Thor could almost hear his mind thinking of all the books he could read now, so many more spells to be mastered. He smiled to himself for his brother.

“I wish I had two kingdoms for you both to rule, Loki. You would also make a fine king, and I trust Thor to ensure you will be at his side. He can be somewhat reckless,” he said with a flash of a smile, so like his son’s.

 _I will make him king alongside me, when it is my time,_ Thor thought seriously.

“What about the beasts?” Thor asked. Odin gave him a look with raised eyebrow.

“I expect you both to keep a detailed calendar of your transformations,” he said, pointedly to Loki who couldn’t suppress a smirk. “I expect you to devise a training plan you can stick to that compliments your own training. Loki, I wish for you to master the spell you mentioned, the shackling spell. Frigga will help if need be. Thor, you _must_ work more on your self-control in case Loki is ever not there to stop you.”

“I will be,” Loki said easily, before Thor could speak, “but I’ll make sure he does.”

Odin nodded, as if he had expected this response. “You no longer need to shield yourselves from Heimdall, so it should allow for more magical output from you.”

“You will not shirk your duties. You will not use this as an excuse to be idle, or to overindulge. You will hurt no one. I expect you always fresh for battle, social functions, or diplomatic meetings, whatever you have done the night previously.”

They listened in silence, nodding occasionally. Finally, it seemed Odin was done, and Frigga began.

“I will enchant a tree beside the forest to store your clothes safely; it will be dry and clean. I don’t like to think of you forgetting and having to tramp through the palace naked and muddy in the morning.” Thor grinned. Frigga gave him a look. “And no, Thor, I don’t think the serving girls would appreciate it either, despite what you are thinking!”

Loki huffed out a short laugh, nudging Thor with his elbow. “Shot down before you begin, brother.”

“You used to always look out for each other,” she said softly. “I do not know what happened, but I am glad you are doing so again. You belong at each other’s sides.”

Thor didn’t know if she meant more than she was saying, and didn’t dare to ask; but her clear gaze gave nothing away and no matter how much he stared, she said nothing further on the matter. _Is that permission? I don’t-_

“Together, you are formidable,” agreed  Odin. “But not invincible, nor above the law. I expect more from you both now.”

 

They parted amicably, Odin setting off on a peace meeting with some of the other Realms and Frigga retiring to bed with an ambiguous, “Have fun, boys.”

They headed back to Loki’s quarters, this time, Thor always fascinated by the oils and bottles, lengths of silks and piles of books, the glass jars full of things he didn’t recognise and the heady scent of incense and charcoal that always permeated the air. It was so different to his own rooms, their simplicity and airiness, always open to the sunlight; this secluded, safe space where Loki felt at

 home, and where candles were always lit no matter the time of day. It felt like a secret cave that only Thor was allowed to share.

He settled himself comfortably on a chair near Loki, who was muttering to himself and compiling a list of books he could now read. When he put the quill down with a flourish, Thor said, “Does Mother know?”

“Of course,” Loki said blandly, blowing on the ink to dry it. “How could she not?”

“Oh.”

“Never fear, brother; I doubt she’s about to go and tell Odin all the sordid things their children do behind their backs.”

“Why?”

“She wants us to be happy more than she cares about that,” Loki replied, full of confidence.

“You know mother much better than I.”

“She made me feel like I was never lesser,” Loki said, not looking at Thor. “I could _do_ magic; it came as naturally to me as fighting does to you. I would never be as strong as you, as worthy of Mjolnir or as loud and bold as Father wanted, but I could do that, and she made me feel like it was worth something.”

“It is,” Thor said earnestly. “You do marvels with your magic, brother.”

Loki gave him a smile, brief but fond, and moved to sit himself on Thor’s lap as though his brother was nothing more than a large cushion. He arranged himself artfully, managing to dig sharp elbows into Thor’s ribs at least three times before settling. Thor bore it with patience.

“You really are a fool,” he told Thor with affection. “A great, sentimental idiot.”

Thor smiled as though they were words of adoration. In a way, from Loki, they were.

“Loki,” he said very seriously, and Loki looked suddenly wary.

“I cannot keep that calendar. Would you help?”

Loki groaned. “I have three copies. One for you, one for me and one for Father. I’ve had it drawn out for weeks, Thor. _Weeks._ ” He dug his elbow in again, deliberately. “You could have just asked.”

 

\--

 

They became legend; the ferocious beasts of Odin’s army who were somehow also the heirs, wild tales of them transforming halfway through battle to lead the troops to victory exaggerated and propagated by terrified enemies. They became larger in people’s minds until they loomed over the imaginary battlefield like giants, tales of their savagery- and their terrifying, perfect synchronicity in war- told shudderingly over fires. Odin began arranging battles to suit their calendar, even though it didn’t matter; once the tales were out there, even their usual forms attracted terror and mass panic. They revelled in it, especially Loki who was less used to his prowess in battle being celebrated. In fact, it was Loki who started some of the rumours; about the black wolf who could wield magic as if born to it, who could control the golden one when nothing else could, and who killed silently and swiftly. All true, but all grown and lengthened into myths by others who heard and saw. He mastered that shackling spell but never had to use it, Thor having learned his lesson the hard way.

 

There were rumours, too, that they were lovers- Thor suspected Loki had a hand in those as well, but could never prove it- but they were whispered and never accusing, too many in awe of what they could do to ever think about following up such tales. If Odin ever heard, he said nothing.

 

\--

 

Thor had never been so exhausted- or so content with his lot. He lay with Loki at his side, both of them half dozing in the light of the dawn. He had more scars now; battle had seen to that, and to Loki as well, his once perfect skin now notched with a few pale memories of injury. Loki didn’t like it, but Thor did; it made his brother seem more real, more corporeal than he had been when there was nothing but unblemished perfection there. Loki scowled when Thor mentioned them, but didn’t object to Thor kissing each one reverently.

He thought back; it seemed like an age ago when he and Loki were separate, at odds with each other instead of the way they were supposed to be. Strange to think they could have ever been other than how they were now; so close they could almost read each other’s thoughts- and Thor would swear Loki really could, and it wouldn‘t surprise him at all.

Thor shifted and Loki grumbled, dragging the sheets back over himself with a huff without actually opening his eyes. Today was a rest day, and they had no plans.

Thor eyed Loki. He looked so innocent, so sleepy there in the sheets, as if he could rest there all day and do no one any harm. The temptation was _appalling_. He resisted.

And resisted.

And then, delicately reaching out with one foot, he firmly shoved Loki off the end of the bed and onto the cold floor, smirking as Loki screeched like a cat thrown into a bathtub and readying himself for the inevitable fistfight he was about to be in.

 _Doesn’t mean I can’t still be his big brother,_ he thought smugly to himself as Loki appeared over the edge of the bed, glaring murderously at him. He held out his arms to defend himself, laughing, as Loki launched himself back onto the bed, fists at the ready.

 

END

 

 

 

**Well, that's it! Fic finished! I'm so grateful to everyone who read this fic; it really started off just as me indulging my werewolf kink and whoops, then there were feels- Obviously I'm not done with Thorki as a whole, haha. Sure I'll write another fic soon :D**

**Again thank you to everyone who commented, left kudos, or even just read it. It makes me so happy :)**


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